Miners safe after fire at Allan Potash Mine

Allan Potash Mine

A fire in a loader at the Allan PotashCorp mine trapped 114 workers underground for hours on Monday.

PotashCorp Director of Public Relations Randy Burton told CTV News that the fire started in a loader around 3:30 p.m., but was quickly extinguished by a suppression mechanism in the machinery.

Because of the smoke, the 114 miners underground had to go to refuge stations to wait for the mine to vent and clear of smoke. Emergency crews gave the all clear for evacuation at 9:00 p.m. and all of the miners were back above ground by 12:30 a.m. on Tuesday.

The damage was confined to the loader. One person was treated for minor smoke inhalation but is expected to resume work today. The mine will resume normal operations this morning.