Borough of Somerset
Memo

To:        B. L. Dotson-Lewis

From:    Benedict G. Vinzani, Jr. Ph.D., Borough Manager

Date:     1/26/2003

          These are my recollections of the Quecreek Mining Accident and Rescue.  I awoke that morning to the first radio and television reports of a mining accident near Somerset.  My first reaction was of concern for the miners and their families, followed shortly by “could something like this really be happening again in Somerset, so soon after the crash of Flight 93?”  I wasn’t aware of the enormity of the situation until it began to capture the attention of the nation, and then, most of the world.  Let me begin by saying, that as Somerset Borough Manager, I had no official duties with the rescue operation except to permit some Borough Employees to assist in delivering chairs, supplies, etc. to the locations set up for monitoring the rescue efforts and for giving the governor’s press conferences.  A Pittsburgh television station requesting an interview contacted me later that first day.  I began by telling them that the accident did not happen in Somerset Borough, but several miles outside.  It made no difference to them.  Somerset had become so synonymous with tragedy since the September 11 crash of Flight 93, that they wanted me, as Somerset Borough Manager to make some statement, anything at all.  After they understood my role, they still were very eager to interview me.  I was actually at home when the TV Station called me.  They gave me a set of special private numbers to call when they were

going “live” to do the “on air” phone interview with me.  They wanted me to call them back in 15 minutes for their 5:30 pm newscast.  I immediately drove back to the Somerset Borough Building so that I could conduct the phone interview in the privacy of my office.  I remember calling the special number and politely being asked by Jennifer Antkoviak to “hold the line” for several minutes until they were ready for my part in the newscast.  I was “on hold” for about ten minutes.  During this time I was wondering what types of questions they were going to ask me.  Every few minutes someone came on the line to say: “Mr. Vinzani, thanks for holding, we will be with you shortly”.  When it came time for the “live” interview, I was surprisingly calm.  I have always found that by sticking to the truth, one can’t go wrong.  The interview went well.  The main point I made was that Somerset (not by choice) was once again thrown into the national spotlight, and that it is not so much what happens to you that matters… but how you react to it.  I went on to say that Somerset had responded to this mining accident in the same fashion as they did with the crash of Flight 93…with dignity, passion, and professionalism. (On the lighter side, my wife Margie watched the interview on TV at home and said that they used a photo of me during the interview that looked like I belonged on the “FBI’s Most Wanted List”.)

          We all know the rest of the story. I held my breath for 77 hours, as did the rest of the world.  I remember watching TV coverage of the announcement that “all nine are alive” and the unforgettable shots of each being lifted up from the ground in that yellow capsule.

Somerset has now become known as “America’s County”… a title we certainly did not seek, but somehow was thrust upon us by the way we respond to adversity. 

Friday, July 26, 2002                                                     

By Milan Simonich and Jim McKay, Post-Gazette Staff Writers

Hypothermia is the enemy

  The coal miners trapped in a flooded Somerset County mine faced another danger nearly as great as drowning -- hypothermia.

Hypothermia is subnormal temperature within the central body.

When a person is immersed in cold water, the skin and nearby tissues cool quickly. When the core temperature drops from the normal 98.6 degrees to below 90 degrees, serious complications begin to develop. Death may occur at about 80 degrees.

But a person can lose consciousness or the ability to use arms or legs before that.

Survival in cold water depends on many factors; the temperature of the water is only one. Others include body size, fat and activity in the water. Large people cool more slowly than small people.