1947, 10th. January. Burngrange Colliery. Nos. 1 and 2. 15 Killed.
"The Burngrange disaster happened in 1947. The Seafield miner's had been transferred to Burngrange because they were making alterations to the haulage road. There were quite a number of Seafield men lost and when I went up to Burngrange after the disaster happened, I met Mr Croydon, the manager. We could see the smoke coming out of the pit from Seafield, belching out the shaft ... the men were cornered, they couldn't get out ... we used string cloths down the pit for diverting air into certain places and you could see where they were trying to keep the flames back when the explosion happened ... the bodies were just lying there with their lamps ... they took them to Addiewell Oil Works, there were baths there, to identify them."
Mr J Wardrope, former President of the Shale Miners Union
"The Burngrange disaster happened in 1947. The Seafield miner's had been transferred to Burngrange because they were making alterations to the haulage road. There were quite a number of Seafield men lost and when I went up to Burngrange after the disaster happened, I met Mr Croydon, the manager. We could see the smoke coming out of the pit from Seafield, belching out the shaft ... the men were cornered, they couldn't get out ... we used string cloths down the pit for diverting air into certain places and you could see where they were trying to keep the flames back when the explosion happened ... the bodies were just lying there with their lamps ... they took them to Addiewell Oil Works, there were baths there, to identify them."
Mr J Wardrope, former President of the Shale Miners Union
