Qualla: Brookwood Mine Disaster https://qualla.com/brookwood-mine-disaster en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:13 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_res/siteimages/rsslogo.png Qualla: Brookwood Mine Disaster https://qualla.com/brookwood-mine-disaster Brookwood Mine Disaster: Introduction https://qualla.com/brookwood-mine-disaster/ Twelve days after the September 11 attacks, while the nation's attention was still fixed on New York and Washington, another group of Americans descended into danger. On September 23, 2001, thirty-two coal miners entered Jim Walter Resources No. 5 Mine in Brookwood, Alabama, roughly 40 miles southwest of Birmingham, for what was supposed to be a routine maintenance shift. At 5:15 p.m., a roof collapse released a pocket of methane gas, and the mine erupted. Before the night was over, thirteen men would be dead. Some were killed by the first blast. Others died because they did what miners have always done: they went back in to save their own.

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]]> Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/j/c/v/brookwood-mine-disaster-wp/djcv-brookwood-mine-disaster-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Brookwood Mine Disaster: Two Thousand Feet Down https://qualla.com/brookwood-mine-disaster/ The Jim Walter Resources No. 5 Mine, also known as the Blue Creek No. 5, operated deep in the coal seams of Tuscaloosa County. On the afternoon of September 23, miners were working more than 2,000 feet below the surface, bolstering deteriorating roof and rib areas in the No. 4 se...

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]]> Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/j/c/v/brookwood-mine-disaster-wp/djcv-brookwood-mine-disaster-two-thousand-feet-down.mp3 0:06 2 full Brookwood Mine Disaster: The Second Blast https://qualla.com/brookwood-mine-disaster/ The rescuers never had a chance. Approximately 45 minutes after the first explosion, a second, larger blast ripped through the same section of the mine. Several of the men killed in the disaster were not victims of the initial collapse but volunteer rescuers who had entered the m...

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]]> Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/j/c/v/brookwood-mine-disaster-wp/djcv-brookwood-mine-disaster-the-second-blast.mp3 0:06 3 full Brookwood Mine Disaster: Thirteen Names https://qualla.com/brookwood-mine-disaster/ The dead were Gaston Adams Jr., Raymond Ashworth, Nelson Banks, David Blevins, Clarence "Bit" Boyd, Wendell Johnson, John Knox, Dennis Mobley, Charles Nail, Joe Riggs, Charles Smith, Joe Sorah, and Terry Stewart. Fifteen hundred people attended their funeral. In a community built...

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]]> Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/j/c/v/brookwood-mine-disaster-wp/djcv-brookwood-mine-disaster-thirteen-names.mp3 0:06 4 full Brookwood Mine Disaster: A Legacy Written in Law https://qualla.com/brookwood-mine-disaster/ The Brookwood disaster, combined with the 2006 Sago Mine disaster in West Virginia that killed twelve miners, spurred Congress to act. The Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act of 2006, known as the MINER Act, established the Brookwood-Sago Mine Safety Grants Program, w...

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]]> Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/j/c/v/brookwood-mine-disaster-wp/djcv-brookwood-mine-disaster-a-legacy-written-in-law.mp3 0:06 5 full