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By Mike Cuffe
“Fire in the Hole” took on a new terrible reality for 308 miners underground inside “The Richest Hill on Earth” at Butte, Montana, 0n June 8, 1917. One Hundred sixty-eight died, two hundred forty survived. “A Darkness Lit By Heroes” takes you all the way inside the world’s biggest hard rock mine disaster.
The Speculator Mine Fire in 1917 impacted the miners, their families, the entire community and the mining industry. It is jam packed with hard work, passion for life, good will and immense desire to aid others.
Doug Ammons relates the true story of the fire and rescue, and he tells it from multiple perspectives in the actual words of those who endured the unthinkable event. This is the real deal.
If you appreciate the intense drama in the movie named “Titanic,” you may stay up all night reading “A Darkness Lit By Heroes.” I had to stop twice for 20-minute breaks to settle my emotions. It is a roller coaster ride from top to bottom, filled with the raw guts of human drive to survive impossible conditions. I predict that some hotshot film producer will bring this saga to the silver screen.
The author dug through voluminous records to understand exactly what happened and how. Like a forensic detective, he reconstructed this disaster. Helping him to understand the puzzling geography of the interconnected tunnels and ownerships were three Butte mining engineers, Floyd Bossard, Larry Hoffman and Dave Kneebone. Speaking from more than 150 years of collective experience underground, they provided insight to the human side of mining, as well as a view into the minds of desperate men.
In his preface, Author Ammons sets the stage with these words: “Raw quotes, phrases, wording, and direct descriptions of situations and conversations were taken from the inquest or other sources. Other dialogue, text and the men’s internal thoughts were constructed from immediate implications of their statements, or the dilemmas and choices, as determined from the situations, informed by the maps, the equipment, the standard tasks and knowledge of the men’s jobs.”
The reader will find themselves gasping during a desperate flight from the poisonous gas spewing from underground fire, legs will cramp as miners scramble up ladders to different tunnel levels, hearts will pound, tears will blur, hands will shake. Imagine huddling in the dark behind a temporary wall hastily thrown together to protect from bad air. Imagine the quality of that “clean air” three days later after repeated breathing and three days of bodily functions in a tight space.
I sit in an airport in Los Angeles as I type this today, Nov.17, 2023. I refer to the book and tears blur my eyes as I relive the actions of rescuer Tom LaMartine, who just wouldn’t quit searching, even when all others gave them up for dead. Tom was slow to fully comprehend where the last men alive were located, but then he demanded that the head mine boss Braley immediately accompany him with all help available. Ten men were sealed behind an airtight bulkhead. Six were saved, four died during the rescue.
If you ever shed a tear during Jimmy Dean’s ballad about “Big John,” you may sob reading this book. But you will also swell with elation, heroism, and the tremendous drive to survive.
But life goes on. In July, a baby girl was born to Manus Duggan’s widow, Madge. His crewmates saw her on a trolley car with babe and groceries in her arms. Each one asked for the honor of holding the tiny daughter of their former workmate. ISI
Add copies of A DARKNESS LIT BY HEROES to your Christmas shopping list! Order online at www.dougammons.com; or send a $30 check to Doug Ammons, 415 Keith Ave., Missoula, MT 59801, or go to Amazon or your local bookstore.
