Montrose Search and Rescue – A Water Mine Tragedy

I’m next going to cover a tragedy that took place in our valley relatively recently. Because of that, I’m going to leave out the names and locations surrounding the terrible event. I write about it now, not to bring up bad memories for the families involved, but to illustrate how dangerous these old water mines are. These old unstable tunnels are located in most of our canyons and, in many cases, are covered by decades’ worth of brush. Once discovered, their draw is irresistible, and occasionally deadly. They should be avoided.

Two brothers who had grown up in the valley had made a hobby as kids of exploring the old water tunnels up in the canyons. One tunnel tantalized them. About 300 feet in, the roof had collapsed, forming a dam. Water collected behind this accidental dam submerging the tunnel, and the brothers always wondered what lay beyond. As adults one of the brothers became part of the elite Air Force para-rescue team, highly trained in scuba diving and rescue techniques. The old curiosity about the childhood water mine, buoyed by his confidence in his diving skills, made him decide to take a stab at what was admittedly a very dangerous adventure.

The two men hiked to the mine entrance carrying a set of scuba gear. They crawled into the tunnel to the cave-in. The diver donned his gear and tied a line to himself to be tended by his brother. He climbed over the cave-in and entered the dark water beyond. Threading his way through fallen timbers and rocks, he crawled/swam approximately 185 feet, while his brother paid out line. When he finally reached an open cavity, he raised his head above water.

No one really knows what happened at this point. Perhaps his regulator was accidently knocked out of his mouth, or maybe he misread his oxygen sensor. What we do know is that he took a breath of air that was only 4% oxygen, and immediately passed out face down in the water. Back at the entrance the brother noted that the line stopped moving, and pulling on it was fruitless. After what seemed an eternity, he called for help and the MSAR mine rescue team responded.

They entered the mine, but were stopped at the 300’ mark by the cave-in and the low oxygen levels, 21% at the mine entrance but 18.5% inside the tunnel.

Ventilation fans were brought in to freshen the air. A word about oxygen: The normal air we breathe is 21% oxygen. At 15% dizziness begins, and at 9% unconsciousness soon follows. At 7%, the air supply to the brain is shut off immediately. The air in the farther portion of this tunnel was 4%, the oxygen probably eaten up by the decaying wooden timbers.

Fortunately, an experienced cave diver and training officer for the sheriff’s dive team had been flown in. He struggled over the cave-in and followed the line into the water. The way was treacherous. He passed several air pockets but didn’t find the lost diver. He finally cleared the murky dark water to a half-submerged portion of the tunnel. Keeping his regulator firmly in his mouth, he found the diver’s body. After removing the diver’s tanks, the body was carefully threaded back to the entrance. This same brave cave diver had to retrace the route a week later to retrieve the diver’s gear.

It was a traumatic event for the community, which mourned and struggled with the loss of one of our own. Yet this same sort of tragedy played out just two years later in Cleveland National Forest. Two young brothers dove into a submerged portion of a mine, and emerged in an air cavity that again contained only 4% oxygen, and they too died.

Mines are dangerous places, but even more so are water mines. They’re all more than a century old, and they were sometimes dug by amateurs, unschooled in safe mine construction. Any kind of cave or mine exploration is not to be taken lightly, but exploring our local water mines should not be attempted at all.

  mike lawler