Return to Transcripts main page

The Situation Room

Explosion Traps Group of West Virginia Miners Underground

Aired January 02, 2006 - 19:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks very much Christine.
If you are viewers, you're now in THE SITUATION ROOM where new pictures and information are arriving all the time. Standing by CNN reporters across the United States and around the world to bring you the day's top stories.

Happening now, it's 7:00 p.m. in West Virginia where an explosion traps a group of miners a mile from the entrance, and rescuers set out to reach them facing their own dangers. Is there a way out? We'll show you how even the most desperate situations can say have extraordinary endings.

Plus, beating the odds, how miners can say stay alive underground. We'll hear from a doctor who has treated mine accident survivors.

I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

It's a developing story that began more than a dozen hours ago. A powerful underground explosion and cave in as coal miners were just starting work deep underground at a mine near Buckhannon, West Virginia.

Six miners scrambled out after the blast, but 13 others were trapped more than a mile from the mine's entrance. There has been no communication with them yet, and officials say no indication yet whether they're alive or dead.

Delayed by concerns about poisonous gases, a nine-member rescue team has now entered the main shaft of the mine, including a coal company foreman, who is very familiar with the site. Other teams are standing by right now. Officials expect the rescue operation to be long and difficult.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's been no communication. Typically, there's two systems of communication from the surface to an underground mine. Both of them depend on power and the integrity of the cables that run from surface to underground. Those are not operating. We're not willing to speculate on why they're not operating.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER:: Zoe Ludski is a reporter for WDNE Radio. She is us now with more.

You're on the scene, Zoe. What is the latest information you're picking up?

ZOE LUDSKI, WDNE RADIO: Wolf, we just finished a press conference not long ago. Roger Nicholson, the senior V.P. and general counsel for International Coal Group Incorporated, was speaking along with the Gene Kitts, who is the senior V.P. of mining services for the International Coal Group.

They have not got a whole lot more to report. They have confirmed several things. Confirmed that 13 people are trapped. That they were with the day shift, second list, twelve crew members and one belt examiner. They say that all of these miners are experienced. Some of them upwards of 30 years of experience. The least experienced miner still, you know, a year or more with the mines.

The state has mobilized a drill unit, and this is to drill for air quality monitoring. At that time, they also hoped to be able to drop a listening device down to hear what they can hear essentially.

West Virginia is adding a mobile command post, a mobile triage and a mobile hospital, as well, and that, they say, is not to, you know, dampen anybody's spirits but simply just in case, and also for the miners when they are rescued, but also for the rescue crews in case they run into problems.

BLITZER: Zoe, hold on for a minute.

It's been 12 and a half hours at least since this accident, this incident began.

Our Brian Todd is now on the scene as well. He's joining us via video phone.

Brian, where exactly are you as opposed to the entrance of this shaft?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, we are about a mile away from it, and we just got here. Some of the family members have been coming out of a church. It's about a 100 yards away from us. They are giving us some information, but they have very little to report themselves.

We do know that there are 15 miners still trapped in there. Everything that we're hearing is what you just reported. There's been no contact with them so far.

But what we're hearing though from people who have been briefed at least among the family members is that one team of miners went in with the 13 gentlemen among members of that team in a small car that wept into the mine shaft.

Another team was to follow. The second team that was going to follow heard the explosion, went in as far as they could, found that they couldn't go any further, came back out and then reported what it happened.

And again, that was more than 12 hours ago. We're talking about 12 and a half hours we're into this. No contact with the miners. There was an issue of gas in the mine. Methane gas that had to be cleared up. That took apparently several hours.

What we're hearing is that there may be another type of gas that rescuers are having to deal with not sure whether that's natural gas or another type of gas. So we are anxiously awaiting more word, and I think that rescue officials are just being very cautious right now.

BLITZER:: Brian, so at that church, I take it that's where a lot of the family members of these miners, these 13 miners stuck inside, that's where they're gathering and they're consulting. They're supporting each other, is that what's going on?

TODD: That's exactly what's going on, Wolf. They're consoling each other. They are trying to get information. They're being briefed a little bit, but not much more than we are really. And some of them are coming out and they are distraught, as you might imagine, but they're giving us some information, and they're dealing with this as best as they can.

BLITZER:: Brian Todd, we're going to get back to you shortly. Brian Todd via video phone joining us from the scene in West Virginia.

It's been more than 12 and a half hours. You see the clock since this incident occurred.

Steve Milligan is deputy director of West Virginia's Office of Emergency Management. He's joining us on the phone from the scene as well.

What's the latest information you're getting, Steve?

STEVE MILLIGAN, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT FOR UPSHUR COUNTY: I'm not at the scene. I'm at the emergency operations center here in the city of Buckhannon.

BLITZER: How far are you from the mine?

MILLIGAN: About seven or eight miles.

BLITZER: All right. So what kind of information are you getting at the office there?

MILLIGAN: The same information that the crews that are inside working, trying to get to the miners. There's a second crew or a rescue crew, for the rescue crew per se, in case any problems there. Our Governor Joe Manchin is on his way back from the West Virginia University football game. He should be on scene within the next hour or so.

BLITZER: He was in Atlanta for the Sugar Bowl against Georgia, the University of West Virginia. He's coming back to be on the scene together with other authorities. Do you have all the equipment in place for a major search and rescue operation?

MILLIGAN: That's something usually taken care of by the mines. The local fire, police and EMS are not allowed in the mines due to safety regulations. So essentially the miners take care of themselves. Consol Coal has sent stuff over.

I understand they are drilling some holes, but other than that its my understanding that anything they need they'll be getting themselves.

BLITZER: How extraordinary is this situation in your community?

MILLIGAN: Very extraordinary. I've been with the management for some time. I've been in the community for about 15 years, and there's been no major explosion or injuries or loss of life in this county for some time. There's occasionally some broken limbs.

BLITZER: I think we just lost our connection with Steve Milligan, the deputy director of the Office of Emergency Management for Upshur County in West Virginia.

But we have other reporters and analysts standing by with more information.

Let's turn to Bruce Dial. He's an expert former mine inspector, who is joining us now as well.

What do you make of this incident, Bruce?

BRUCE DIAL, MINE SAFETY EXPERT: Well, this time of year winter is the worst time of the year for a coal mine and explosions. We pray that these things don't happen, but they do happen periodically.

This situation here, we don't know exactly what kind of gas they're talking about. If it was methane gas, they wouldn't be able to put the rescuers in there until they're able to control that type of gas. If it's carbon monoxide that means there's a fire in there, and they would have to control the fire before the rescuers could get to the miners themselves.

BLITZER: Bruce, as you take a look at this situation, give us your bottom line assessment. How long can these 13 miners, given the information we have, how long can they survive?

DIAL: It depends on how much--if they're in an area where there is oxygen and they barricade their self in, they could go for several days, a week probably, with just the food that they have and water, as long as they're able to breathe, and they're not in water or anything like that.

BLITZER: The rescue operation under normal circumstances, and this is obviously highly extraordinary, but as these rescue workers go in there now, how do they go about their job? DIAL: Well, they go in teams, and they're highly trained teams that go in. And they test for gas all the way in, and they test for any kind of loose roof conditions, any other hazards, that type of thing. They make a map of everything they find as they go in, and they are, of course, listening for any kind of signs from anybody.

And also one thing they have to check all of the area, not just the one tunnel or the drift that they're going in first. They have to check everything that's beside of them also.

BLITZER: All right, Bruce, we're going to come back to you very soon for your expertise. Standby please for that.

We're following this story.

Jack Cafferty is following it as well. He's joining us from New York.

Hi, Jack.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, how are you doing?

The average annual income in West Virginia is less than $30,000 a year. The average miner makes more than twice that much according to the Department of Labor. High-paying jobs in a place like West Virginia are not exactly easy to come by, so the lure of the paycheck could go a long way toward offsetting the danger of working in the mines. Here's the question this hour. Did you ever not take a job because it was too dangerous? You can e-mail us your thoughts at CaffertyFile@CNN.com, and we'll get back to some of those in about a half hour thereabouts.

BLITZER: What a story this is, Jack. Our hearts go out to these coal miners. Over the years, I've watched the stories unfold and we can only pray and hope for the best.

CAFFERTY: Do you remember offhand how long the ones in -- was it Pennsylvania -- were trapped down there before they finally got the elevator down to them?

BLITZER: It was three days.

CAFFERTY: So there's -- potentially there's time here.

BLITZER: Yes, and especially if there are these catacombs that are based -- if they could get there and there's some air. There's definitely hope, and that's what these rescue workers are working under the assumption that these guys are alive. Let's hope they are.

CAFFERTY: Well, say a little prayer.

BLITZER: We definitely will Jack, thanks very much.

We now know more about this mine and this mining company in West Virginia. Let's get some specific details. Our Internet reporter Abbi Tatton is standing by. Abbi? ABBI TATTON, CNN INTERNET REPORTER: Wolf, for information about accidents, safety violations, inspections at mines across the country, you can go to the U.S. Department of Labor site, the Mine Safety and Health Administration.

Their database allows you to search on specific mines to see the history. And we've done that with Sago Mine in West Virginia. In the last year, some 15 inspections have taken place, most of them have taken place without many violations, but these interesting.

Recently regular safety and health inspections, 46 citations, violations there. And the earlier one, last year in 2005, 70 citations. Now comparing that to neighboring mines also in West Virginia, that seemed on the high end. Also, some of them you can read the codes that were cited, the violations on that site. Lots of them including one that was interesting, methane monitors, a citation involving methane monitors described at that site.

BLITZER: All right, Abbi, thank you very much -- Abbi Tatton with some more information she's picking up from the Web.

We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, we'll speak with a woman, take a look. This woman, Lila Muncy, she has a relative stuck inside that mine right now. We're going to speak with her, right after a short break. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Thanks for joining us. Welcome back. All about that anxious -- about all the anxious relatives can do right now is simply pray and wait. Lila Muncy is the sister of one of the trapped miners. She's joining us now from Upshur County, in West Virginia. Lila, thanks very much for joining us. Tell us first of all, a little bit about your brother.

LILA MUNCY, SISTER OF TRAPPED MINER (video phone): My brother Randall, he's been working in the mines about three years. He has two children.

BLITZER: His name is Randall Muncy, is that right?

MUNCY: Randall McCoy.

BLITZER: McCoy. OK, and so go ahead. You say he's got two children?

MUNCY: Yes. He has two children. He has a four-year-old boy, and he has a one-year-old girl.

MUNCY: How old is Randall?

MUNCY: Randall is 27.

BLITZER: Twenty-seven. When was the last time you saw Randall?

MUNCY: At Christmas, it was Christmas time. BLITZER: He's been a miner for three years. Did he talk about the dangers of his job?

MUNCY: Yes, he was always very cautious. He was very, very leery of, you know, keeping a job in the mines because of the danger.

BLITZER: What kind of work specifically did he do?

MUNCY: He's a bolter in the mines.

BLITZER: And what does that mean?

MUNCY: He does the bolting. He has people ahead of him that basically...

BLITZER: Take a deep breath, Lila. It's all right. We understand your emotions right now. How many brothers and sisters do you have?

MUNCY: I have four brothers. Randall is the oldest.

BLITZER: Randall is the oldest. Are the other brothers miners also?

MUNCY: No. , they are not.

BLITZER: Do you come from a family of coal miners?

MUNCY: No.

BLITZER: So Randall really was the first.

MUNCY: He basically did this -- yes.

BLITZER: Why did he decide to become a coal miner?

MUNCY: The money basically. You know, it's better money, and in West Virginia, you know there's not that many opportunities around here. And he felt that was the way to go right now. He was always very cautious, you know, and every -- you know, every morning he would tell his wife, God bless you, before he left to work because he always knew the danger.

BLITZER: Tell us a little bit about your other family members, the people who have gathered. Are you near the church there in West Virginia near the mine?

MUNCY: Yes,, I'm near it, yes. There are several people here, several...

BLITZER: ... Go ahead, I interrupted but tell us about some of the other family members who have gathered with you. I assume this is a small close-knit community.

MUNCY: Yes, but there are several people here. I mean, there are several people here, family members just waiting to hear any inkling of any kind of -- you know, hope, you know, for them to get out.

BLITZER: Have they given you any information about the situation at the church? Have they come to you and offered you information? Who is talking to you?

MUNCY: We've been given a little bit of information, little bits here and there. You know, every couple of hours, nothing significant at this point that we've heard.

BLITZER: And the rescue workers have now gone in, so that much give you some hope.

MUNCY: Yes, definitely.

BLITZER: What's the mood with the other family members and friends who have gathered with you?

MUNCY: Everybody's just distraught. I mean, they're upset. They're just distraught.

BLITZER: Has anyone shared with you an explanation of what happened?

MUNCY: Not specifically. There was some kind of explosion that had happened about 6:30 this morning. And of course no one was notified until about 10:00 this morning.

BLITZER: What was the first notification that you received?

MUNCY: Well, unfortunately, I didn't find out until I saw it on the news, and I sure enough called my mother, and she said yes, and that, you know, Randy is trapped in the mines.

BLITZER: How is your mother holding up?

MUNCY: She's trying to be strong for everyone right now, you know.

BLITZER: Is she there with you now or is she home?

MUNCY: No, she's here. She's in the church.

BLITZER: Who else from your family is with you at the church?

MUNCY: My mother and my father, and my siblings, and of course my brother's wife, and his mother-in-law.

BLITZER: How is your brother's wife doing? What's her name?

MUNCY: Her name is Anna.

BLITZER: How long have they been married?

MUNCY: Oh, they've been married for quite some time now. They were, you know -- sweethearts in Junior High. They were together since she was 13, so -- BLITZER: We're showing our viewers a picture, we were, a moment ago, showing our viewers a picture of Anna, obviously distraught when she found out that Randall was trapped inside this mine, together with 12 other men.

Do you know any of the other men who are trapped inside with Randall?

MUNCY: No, no, I do not know any of the others, but just as my brother, I wish the best for them, too.

BLITZER: We've heard a lot from other families, from other coal miners, Lila, that they take this very dangerous work to go deep into the ground to become coal miners because the pay is so much better than other jobs that might be available in West Virginia.

I wonder if you'd share with us what kind of money we're talking about that an average coal miner might be making?

MUNCY: Roughly I'm guessing around -- because I know he makes pretty good money, $17, $18 an hour around here. That's really good. You know, there's not very many jobs like that here.

BLITZER: $17, $18 an hour, it's a lot more than the minimum wage and certainly a lot more than a lot of the other jobs that might be available in West Virginia around these coal mining towns.

Is there anything you'd like to share with our viewers before I let you go back to your family, Lila?

MUNCY: Just keep everyone here in your prayers.

BLITZER: We are praying together with you and your entire family, all the families who have gathered there at that church, Lila, and all of your friends. We're praying for a happy ending, let's hope that that occurs.

Lila Muncy, good luck to you and good luck to everyone on the scene, thank you very much and give our love and best wishes to all of your family and friends.

MUNCY: Thank you.

BLITZER: It's almost 13 hours now since that explosion early this morning in West Virginia. We're continuing our special coverage here in THE SITUATION ROOM. We'll take a quick break.

When we come back, how to survive a mining accident. Our Tom Foreman has a critical look at factors that may mean the difference between life and death and we'll hear from the former governor of Pennsylvania who oversaw that successful rescue operation, a mining accident in 2002, with a very happy ending. The governor, the former governor standing by. Successful investing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLITZER: Sometimes the efforts of rescue crews and the prayers of relatives are rewarded. Not that long ago, another group of miners was trapped underground as rescuers raced against time and rising water. CNN's Tom Foreman with a closer look now at that story with a happy ending.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Happy ending, and in many ways very similar, at least to people from the outside. What we had in that situation was also a situation where people were underground, they had water rushing on them and they got trapped.

Look at this graphic before we go. What we're dealing with doesn't relate very well because you see two miles here, that's the distance from the entrance to the mine to where the blast took place, an estimated 260 feet, however, between the surface of the ground where these guys are.

BLITZER: In other words, if they went straight down they'd only be 260 feet. If you go through the shaft that's two miles.

FOREMAN: Exactly, they're walking in like this and the mountains --

BLITZER: Sloping away from them.

FOREMAN: It's a huge distance. Coming in from the top is always a possibility. And in Pennsylvania in 2002, they made it work coming in from the top.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FOREMAN (voice over): For three days, families and friends of 9 miners in Pennsylvania waited, prayed and watched as rescuers tried to pull their men from the earth. The miners were trapped when a drill accidentally broke through to a flooded mine shaft and an underwater river suddenly filled their escape route.

The men were caught on a small pile of coal in a chamber only four feet tall and 12 feet wide, and there they faced a wide array of threats.

The frigid water all around supercooled the air, bringing the danger of hypothermia. Running out of air or seepage of poisonous underground gases were constant fears. The miners had almost no food and there was no guarantee the water would not eventually overtake their tiny island.

Above ground, rescuers faced their own challenges. Since they had no communication with the trapped men, could not even be sure if they were alive, rescuers had to use mining maps and global positioning satellite systems to calculate where the survivors might be.

They knew, as they prepared to drill, that missing the target could, at best, cost priceless hours, and at worst, a collapse or more flooding. In this case, the rescuers' calculations were accurate. After cutting a ventilation shaft through so they could pump fresh, warm air to the trapped miners, they quickly followed with a wider rescue shaft, and all nine men were raised to safety.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOREMAN: Of course, every mine out there everyplace offers its own unique problems. I want to show you the scope of how big mining is in this country. If you look at this, these are the big mining states, Wyoming, Texas, Kentucky, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. Those are the really big ones.

If we go into Upshur County, that's where we are talking about. There are 1,900 coal mines in the United States, generally. But if we move beyond that to the number of people in this county who might be involved -- we have mining employing about 320,000 people in the United States, 55 died on the job in 2004.

We have 465 mines in West Virginia, and something you mentioned earlier that is interesting to look at. The average age and wage for mining in the country. In the country the average age of a coal miner is about 50-years-old and the average wage is about $50,000, usually high school educated.

This is one of the things obviously that draws people to mines in many of these places. As you can see from what we showed a moment ago, there's still a lot of mining in this country and half of the electricity we're using to put the show on the air, that you're using at home to watch the show, comes from coal.

BLITZER: So it's obviously very important -- very important work but dangerous work and the health impact, the long-term health effects of working in these mines is obviously another issue that has to be addressed. Tom, stand by.

The former governor of Pennsylvania, Mark Schweiker, is joining us right now. You were the governor at the time of that successful rescue operation in 2002. Governor, give our viewers a sense of what it was like during those days of waiting.

MARK SCHWEIKER, FORMER PENNSYLVANIA GOVERNOR (on phone): Well, Wolf, as Lila has already made clear much better than I, for those atop the surface and family members, it's just heart wrenching. It's angst, it's impatience. And for the stricken miners below and God willing, they're alive and can be found and brought up, it's the greatest of hardships and hopefully they've got clean air to breathe and a place and a cavern to huddle until the rescuers can reach them. So it's -- you're paying attention to the top, the folks at the top and the folks that are below.

BLITZER: How do you divide up responsibility between local authorities, the actual coal mine itself, those who own it, to operate it -- with state, local and state authorities, as well as the federal government, when you're engaged in a disaster like this in a rescue operation? SCHWEIKER: Well, Wolf, what happens is the government's got to show the way. There will be some support provided by perhaps the mine operator, but it's the state and federal government showing the way, bringing in the equipment, deploying the experts, laying out the design for advancing to the miners and so on. In terms of county and emergency response, they may help secure the area and use the West Virginia state police, but at this point, it becomes a federal federal/state operation.

BLITZER: Did you have all the equipment, all the workers, all the expertise you needed? Obviously there was a happy ending in your case.

SCHWEIKER: Well ultimately, we had everything we needed. In fact, within a day and a half, I think everyone was impressed that the assembly of high-impact equipment, whether it was, you know, the large compressor operations atop the truck that coincidentally had come up from West Virginia. So we could send in a six-inch air pipe that gave them the life-saving oxygen just six or seven hours after we determined their location below the ground -- to the excavation work that was done.

So it will be significant and I would imagine that Governor Manchin in West Virginia, along with MSHA, the acronym of the federal agency that will help support the operation or already have been on site. And together they will plan the work and work the plan.

BLITZER: Governor, thanks very much for joining us. Governor Mark Schweiker, the former governor of Pennsylvania. He was governor of that state when there was a successful rescue operation in 2002. Let's hope that there's a happy ending in this case as well.

Just ahead, we'll speak with a man whose brother is trapped in the mine right now. He's also been involved in mine rescues himself. And just what kind of physical condition could the trapped miners be in? We'll hear from a doctor who has treated trapped miners. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: It's more than 13 hours now since that incident occurred in West Virginia, more than 13 people trapped. More now on the 13 people trapped in that West Virginia, coal mine. John Helms is the brother of one of them, he's joining us now live. John, thank you very much. Who is your brother? Tell us his name.

JOHN HELMS, BROTHER OF TRAPPED MINER: Aaron Helms.

BLITZER: And tell us about him a little bit.

HELMS: He's been working in the mines, he's a mining examiner for this company. He's been working for them for probably 10-to-15 years.

BLITZER: How old is he?

HELMS: He rode in with the crew. He's 51.

BLITZER: And he's been 10-to-15 years working in the mine, working in the coal mines. When you say he rode in as a mine examiner, what would normally he be doing together with the 12 other men?

HELMS: He rides up -- he rode in with the section crew, when they were working. And he was going to work on the belt, and then at the end of the shift, he would look at the particular area and then he got off, what I understood, down at the belt drive.

BLITZER: You've worked in the coal mines yourself, haven't you? Do you still work in the coal mines?

HELMS: Yes, I work in them coal mines now. Yes, sir. For 36 years, probably.

BLITZER: For 36 years you've been doing this. Give us, I know this is very difficult and painful, and our heart goes out to you and your family and all of your friends, John. But tell us what's going through your mind as we wait and we pray.

HELMS: Well, for one thing, it's been a long wait. It's a very delicate operation and my rescue team has entered the mines. But it's a slow process to make sure they're safe also. And it's very upsetting, but you got to be patient, I guess. And the longer you wait, of course, the more you worry about you're not going to find anybody alive. So hopefully we do OK, but I understand they're going to start drilling here at 8:00, drill a hole down where they expect everybody to be.

BLITZER: 8:00 tonight, they'll start drilling straight down, is that what you're saying?

HELMS: Yes, they're supposed to drill a hole down where the miners -- they're supposed to drill a hole down into the section there and they're probably checking for methane or to see how good the oxygen is.

BLITZER: Listen to Gene Kitts, I don't know if you know him. He's a vice president of ICG mining services. He's speaking out now about this drilling. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GENE KITTS, VICE PRESIDENT, ICG MINING SERVICES: We know where the minors should be, so the first hole that's drilled will be a small diameter monitoring hole. And it should be in the vicinity of where these miners are thought to be located.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And can you tell us where that is? How far in and how far down?

KITTS: It should be about 260 feet from the surface.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In or down? KITTS: Vertically from the surface, straight down to the coal scene, to the mine. The miners are expected to be located about 10,000 feet horizontally in from the mine portals.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: What do you make of that information that Mr. Kitts just provided, John? You know a lot about coal mines and rescue operations.

HELMS: That sounds right. That's what I understood also. About 250 foot down and should take about approximately three hours to drill through, but around 11:00, 12:00 we ought to have a hole through into the mine.

BLITZER: And this is a hole that will provide air as opposed to a hole that people are going to go down in, is that correct?

HELMS: Well, no, that's just for air. Or maybe they might drop a microphone to hear any noise or any sound. But the first thing they'll do is probably check the oxygen content. Make sure what kind of air is down in there. And then I think probably the next thing will be for a microphone or something to drop down the hole.

BLITZER:: And then if they hear something, God willing, that would indicate some of those miners, maybe all of them, are alive. At that point would they then go straight down using that same hole?

HELMS: Yes, they probably will. They'll probably just drill a bigger hole if they detect that. And it depends on what the mine rescue team also finds that's in the mines now.

BLITZER: Have you been involved yourself in rescue operations over these three decades, plus, that you've been a coal miner?

HELMS: Yes, down in Blacksville one I was involved in a rescue effort when I was working there in 1972.

BLITZER: How did everything work out?

HELMS: Didn't work out very well. We never saved anybody.

BLITZER: Well, I hope it works out well this time, and is a much happier ending. John Helms, we want to thank you very much for joining us. Give our best to your family and friends there. Let's hope your brother and the 12 other trapped miners make it out of there alive.

HELMS: Thank you. Pray for him.

BLITZER: We're praying with you. Thanks very much, John. Appreciate it very much.

Zain Verjee is off this week.

Mary Snow is taking a look at a few other stories making news right now--Mary.

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, a powerful earthquake has hit deep under the south Pacific near Fiji, but the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center says the magnitude 7.1 quake is not expected to set off a devastating tsunami like the one that struck large portions of southern Asia a year ago. And an expert on Fiji says the quake was too deep to be felt there.

The winds calmed down in Texas and Oklahoma, but the fire still raged. The calmer winds allowed tanker planes and helicopters back into the fight against the flames. But 80,000 acres of grassland already have burned in Texas and nearly 300 homes have been destroyed.

Another 70,000 acres have burned in Oklahoma. Sixty-five homes were lost in the Oklahoma city area.

Heavy rains have prompted California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to declare states of emergency in seven counties. In the northern part of the state, a privately owned levy gave way, threatening about 40 homes. And in southern California the National Weather Service is predicting mudslides in some areas.

And two pilots are in fair condition after their single engine plane crashed into the Hudson River just north of New York City. The two men were in the river for about 15 minutes. They were rescued by police in Coast Guard helicopters. Police say the pilots had engine trouble and were trying to make an emergency landing--Wolf.

BLITZER: Mary Snow reporting for us. Mary, thanks very much.

We'll take another quick break. When we come back, we'll get back to our top story. The rescue operation is now under way, and within minutes, they're going to start drilling a hole. They've got to go down about 260 feet.

They're hoping there are survivors among those 13 trapped coal miners. It's been more than 13 hours now, 13 hours and almost 15 minutes, in fact since that accident occurred. An explosion occurred causing all of this.

We'll have much more on this, including our conversation with a doctor who treated rescued coal miners in Pennsylvania in 2002.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: More now on the developing story we are following this evening. Thirteen people trapped following an explosion this morning in a West Virginia coal mine.

Dr. Richard Kunkle treated some of the miners we showed you earlier, who were trapped in that Pennsylvania accident back in 2002. Dr. Kunkle is joining us now on the phone.

When you treated them what were they like generally after what three days trapped in a mine? DR. RICHARD KUNKLE, TREATED PENNSYLVANIA MINERS IN 2002: They were generally very cold, very dirty, very happy to get out of the mine. And quite astonishingly most of them were in very good moods and joked with us as we treated them.

BLITZER: When you watch this current incident in Upshur County, West Virginia, Dr. Kunkle, as someone who has treated coal miners, especially those who were rescued successfully, what goes through your mind?

KUNKLE: Well, I am worried that there has been no communication with them. Obviously, that is what we'd like to see. People will be listening to see if they tap out a signal.

And I'm sure that there are people there from the bureau of mines that have listening devices that they can actually plant in the ground or on the ground and listening for the signalling trying to find out whether in fact the miners are still alive and able to communicate.

BLITZER: What kind of equipment do they have normally in this kind of situation, whether food, water, oxygen, that would help them in this kind of emergency?

KUNKLE: Well coal miners are pretty creative individuals. I mean, they live in an environment that most of us couldn't begin to deal with.

They have self contained self rescuers, which are a supplied oxygen device that will give them between one and two hours of fresh breathing air. Each individual carriers one of those. And then there are additional ones generally kept on the conveyance whatever mine car that they travel into the mine with. So they have supplied air for several hours.

In addition to that, they generally dress in layered clothing because the temperature in the mine generally is in the neighborhood of 50, maybe a little colder, 45, depending upon where they are in the entry. And so they generally have clothing enough to keep them warm.

And there are supplies in the mind that you can use to barricade yourself off and the cloth that is used to build stops in the mind can be cut and used to protect you from the cold. And quite honestly you just learn to set very close together and share body heat in these type of rescue situations.

BLITZER: Well, it's a hard breaking situation. We will continue to watch it for our viewers.

Dr. Kunkle thanks very much. Let's hope this has a happy ending just like the incident that occurred in Pennsylvania in 2002.

We also have some new details about the rescue effort that is now underway.

Let's bring in Jacki Schechner our Internet reporter. She is watching this story--Jacki. JACKI SCHECHNER, INTERNET REPORTER: Wolf, we know at least one of the teams that has gone in for rescue was the Tri-State Coal Teams number one and two.

And if you go to the Mine Rescue Association it will give you information about the apparatus they used being the Draeger BG-174A. What does that mean? Essentially, it's a breathing apparatus. This is the most widely used long duration breathing apparatus in the world.

And from the Centers for Disease Control you can see right here the inside schematics of this. It will give the rescue workers up to four hours of use of this breathing apparatus as they go down into that mine--Wolf.

BLITZER: What an incredibly dangerous operation they are engaged in right now.

Jacki, thanks very much.

Up next, we'll continue to watch this developing story. Bruce Morton also on why we need people like these who go to the mines every day. Much more of our special coverage. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. There's a saying in the coal industry, America is the Saudi Arabia of coal. The U.S. has the largest reserves of coal in the world. For more on the nation's reliance on the 180 million-year-old black rock as it's called, here's CNN's Bruce Morton.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRUCE MORTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): We mine it, we burn it because we have it. We have lots of it and it's cheap and it doesn't come from the Middle East. We burn about a billion tons a year, but that's okay. We have reserves of more than 200 billion, maybe 200 years' worth at the rate we use it today.

We don't burn it in our home furnaces as much as we did when I was a kid. A lot of the coal we burn today, 91 percent one Web site says, is for electricity. Turn on the kitchen light, probably, and you're burning coal.

There are two kinds of mining, surface and deep. Surface just scars the earth. Strip mining in Appalachia wasn't pretty. Nowadays they sometimes just take the whole top of a mountain off.

While coal production in Kentucky and West Virginia is still going up, Wyoming mines the most coal now and that's surface mining. The west mines a little over half our coal, Appalachia about 35 percent.

It's not as deadly as it used to be, more automation, fewer men who have to go down into the mine. In 2001, 13 miners died in an Alabama blast, that was the worst disaster since 1984. West Virginia, where these men were trapped, ended the year 2005 with just three mining deaths.

(on camera): But it's no life, no life for those who go down into the mine, no life for the families who wait up above and worry. My late father grew up in a coal mining town, that's a long time ago now. And I always thought the smartest thing he ever did was walk away from it. Bruce Morton, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Thanks very much, Bruce, for that.

It's now been almost 13 1/2 hours since the explosion at that coal mine this morning. It's a big story we've been watching it all day. Paula Zahn is going to be to be telling us what's coming up at the top of the hour on her show. Paula?

PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Wolf. Of course we will stay with that story, we'll be talking with family members of many of the trapped miners, and hear what it is to go like through this process of some 14 hours waiting for some word from their loved ones.

Also ahead, we're going to take you to Northern California and the devastating drenching rain that has caused massive flooding over the weekend. And we're also going to check on the wildfires that have ripped through Oklahoma and Texas, burning tens of thousands of acres, and destroyed dozens of homes.

But of course, Wolf, the majority of the time we'll be looking at this mining disaster, and focus in on some of the hope that remains as this rescue operation continues.

BLITZER: We'll be staying with you, Paula. Thanks very much. Paula Zahn in New York.

Still ahead, did you ever decide not to take a job because it was too dangerous? Jack Cafferty has your answers when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Here's a look at some of the shots coming in from our friends at the Associated Press. Pictures taken today in West Virginia, site of today's mine explosion. In Tallmansville, West Virginia, rescue workers used global positioning devices to determine the best location to begin drilling into the earth.

Nearby, a bulldozer clears the road toward the area where the drilling will begin, making it easier to move large equipment.

Roger Nicholson, a representative of International Coal Mining Group, the company that owns this specific mine, briefs reporters on this situation.

Anna McCoy, wife of missing miner Randall McCoy waits for news of her husband, Randall, one of the 13 miners trapped in the mine.

Those are some of the latest photographs coming in from our friends over at the A.P. Pictures likely to be in your hometown newspapers tomorrow.

Let's go up to Jack Cafferty, he's been going through your e- mail.

CAFFERTY: Thanks, Wolf. In light of the story we're covering on THE SITUATION ROOM, the question is did you ever not take a job because it's too dangerous?

R. writes, "I've never not taken a job because of the danger. I work in the West Virginia mines in Beckley, and I know the danger. Danger is not a concern for me, as long as I get a good paying job.

Chris in Missouri writes, "I once turned down a job cleaning windows on high rise buildings. I know safety features are there, but they probably were there, too, in the mines. Now look at the outcome. I wasn't going to take a chance.

Kelly writes, "Two of them. The first was a commercial diver on the oil rigs, using mixed gases to dive to depths exceeding 700 feet. The second was doing computer system support in the 'hot zone' and Rocky Flats, Colorado, a nuclear weapons facility known for its high level of radioactive contamination. In both cases the money just was not worth the risk."

Dan writes from Los Angeles: "I didn't take an advertising job in New York City a decade or so ago because Colin Ferguson had just shot some helpless commuters on the Long Island Railroad. A few months later the World Trade Center was bombed for the first time. I decided the authorities couldn't keep people safe there in New York and apparently I was right. So I stayed in L.A., home of random gang violence and mindless car chases.

And Chris writes this: "I turned down coal mining in my senior year of high school after going into a mine here in West Virginia in 1979. No amount of money was worth the risk to me. The very next year one of my best friends died in the mine where we both had interviewed for a job."

Wolf?

BLITZER: All right, Jack. Thanks very much. Let's button up this hour. Bruce Dial, our mining expert joining us.

Briefly Bruce, as you look at the situation, what you know, are you upbeat or downbeat?

DIAL: A lot of hope. Now that they think they have located them and able to get a drill down there, I think it's very hopeful.

BLITZER: Bruce, thank you very much. We'll check back with you.

To our viewers, thanks very much for joining us. Don't forget, we're here weekdays in THE SITUATION ROOM, four to six p.m. eastern as well seven to eight p.m. eastern. I'll be back in one hour, filling in for Larry King on LARRY KING LIVE. We'll have extensive coverage of this coal miner disaster. Until then.

Thanks very much for joining us, let's go to Paula Zahn in New York.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com