Community gathers for 53rd Sunshine Mine memorial

BIG CREEK – Every year, on May 2, the Silver Valley pauses for an hour and remembers the 91 men who perished in the Sunshine Mine Disaster of 1972.  

The Friday morning sunlight, coupled with a light breeze, made the ceremony at the Sunshine Miners Memorial feel a little lighter, despite the somber reason for the gathering.  

The ceremony was well attended, with Mark Immonen of Redpath Mining delivering a message, followed by the names of the 91 men read aloud and their headlamps extinguished.  

Immonen, who spent time at the Sunshine Mine, first as an intern and then again as a miner in the 1980s, came to the Silver Valley from Michigan after high school. His tenure there came during a time when the wounds left from the fire were still too raw throughout the community, but the effect it had was at the forefront of the industry.  

It wouldn’t be until years later that Immonen realized just how much impact the fire had.  

“During my time at the Sunshine, nobody talked about the fire,” Immonen said. “I didn’t totally understand what everyone went through until I read the book, The Deep Dark.”  

Reading the stories and remembering the community as it was in the late 70s and early 80s, Immonen made the decision to change his perspective and take a more optimistic approach to life – both personally and professionally.  

“I try to look for good out of any bad in everything in my life,” Immonen said. “Things that happen on the job, what can we learn from this? How can we make things better? And what has happened is general awareness, safety awareness, and prevention and training in the underground mining industry.”  

Immonen returned to the Sunshine Mine just over a decade ago with Redpath Mining as part of rehabilitation project on the Jewel Shaft.  

Over the years, safety laws in the American mining industry have increased and advanced, many of them due to the tragedy of May 2, 1972.  

On that Tuesday, 53 years ago, it was 11:40 a.m. when two electricians on the 3700 level of the Sunshine Mine noticed the smell of smoke wafting down the drift past their shop. Rescue efforts were delayed due to the smoke being circulated throughout the mine due to the fire’s proximity to the fresh air intake system.  

The Number 10 hoist evacuated miners to the mine’s 3100 level, where they were able to escape via the Jewel Shaft. However, at 1:02 p.m. the Number 10 hoist was no longer operable and the hoistman had been overcome by the smoke.  

173 men went into the mine that morning, 80 were safely evacuated, and of the 93 miners who remained trapped, 91 perished.