The dangers of Arizona’s abandoned mineshafts while fighting wildfires
PHOENIX (AZFamily)—Arizona’s mining history dates back to before it was even a state. Many of those mines are no longer being used and can pose a danger to firefighters fighting wildfires.
“Along with dealing with the heat, the topography, the fuels and then you throw the mineshafts on top of it,” said Billy Morris, acting fire operations chief for Hillside Fire.
Morris, who has been busy fighting several fires this summer, said abandoned mineshafts sprinkled throughout the state can be fatal when fighting a wildfire. “When you’re not expecting it in the middle of the night or evening time when we are fighting these fires, you run across a mineshaft, and it can be a deadly situation.”
He said they ran into mineshafts while working a wildfire near Congress last week. “We found a few of them…the biggest danger is tripping and falling into one.”
Falling in can be deadly. According to the Arizona State Mining Inspector, these mineshafts can easily be more than 100 feet deep.
When firefighters battle intense fires, it can be difficult to spot them, so they work to map them out ahead of time. “Our members can go out, and they can plot them on the maps so everyone at the fire can see where they are at,” said Morris.
It’s not just a fall that poses a problem; it’s also what’s left inside.
According to the Bureau of Land Management, before 1981, mine operators could simply walk away from a mine without removing safety or environmental hazards. This means there could be some serious structural issues inside and, in rare cases, even old explosives left behind. However, in his experience, Morris said he hadn’t found any of that in Arizona.
If a firefighter does fall in, Morris said the medical teams at a wildfire typically have the equipment on hand to help pull them out.
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