Mine Rescue Crews Put Through Their Paces In Dalton
WDEF News 12
By James Mahon
June 25, 2014
DALTON, GA, (WDEF) - David Tant, Carmeuse Lime & Stone, Inc, "We have eight teams competing this year we have one team from Carlsbad New Mexico, we got a team from Missouri, one from Georgia, two teams from Tennessee and two from Kentucky."
The crews are each given a set task and 75 minutes to complete it in this simulated mine shaft course at the Northwest Georgia Trade & Convention Center.
Sam Pierce, Southeast Regional Mine Rescue,"First and foremost they are miners and it does take a lot of dedication, a lot of hours of practice and training, you got to have a heart for it, it's a special breed."
Other teams watch on as Kentucky and New Mexico battle out against the clock to perform their rescue missions.
Crews are documented on their every move and must be able to retrace their steps in a heart beat.
Richard West, Carlsbad New Mexico Mine Rescue "We try to approach the fire on the intake side when you ventilate a mine you have intake air and exhaust air its not like ambient air like outside in the open, you channel that air and stay on the intake side."
New Mexico's team rescued their fallen miner in 70 minutes but their trainers say more needs to be done if they are to hold their own at Nationals.
"I was worried but they did very well I think they moved good"
Mine rescue training has garnered a lot of attention all over the world after the Chilean mine disaster of 2010 and fatal mine fires throughout Asia in recent years.
Dalton's miners will be competing with 40 other teams at the national finals.
The competition will kick off in early August.
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