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Deaths Cause Officials To Close Vulcan Mine

From Staff And Wire Reports

The U.S. Forest Service has closed an abandoned North Idaho mine where two amateur explorers died last month.

In June, Stephen Novak, 28, of Seattle, and Chris Ost-Homstad, 22, of Minnesota, died about 400 yards inside the Vulcan Mine.

After researching the history of the mine on the shore of Lake Pend Oreille, Forest Service experts installed a steel bar across the opening to block entry.

“We’re very pleased, though it’s obviously too late,” said Terry Novak, Stephen Novak’s father. “They have a serious problem with these mines all over the country.”

Stephen Novak had explored the mine on several occasions and was unaware of dangerous gas that had built up inside, family members said. He and Ost-Homstad had planned to spend an entire afternoon mapping the interior, but they died of carbon monoxide poisoning inside the mine.

High levels of carbon monoxide are common in old, poorly ventilated shafts, mining experts said. By the time explorers realize the problem, it’s often too late to react.

The Vulcan Mine is located off a sandy beach on the north side of the lake and accessible only by water. After the deaths, the Bonner County Sheriff’s Department put “no trespassing” tape across the entrance while the Forest Service conducted its research.

While the government could find no information on the original owner of the limestone and silver mine, officials decided to seal it anyway for safety reasons.

Forest Service spokeswoman Judy Smith said experts initially had considered closing the shaft using explosives but dismissed that approach because of unstable rock throughout the area.

Terry Novak, former Spokane city manager, said there are many more abandoned mines hidden throughout the Idaho Panhandle. They all should be closed, he said.

“There’ve been more and more logging trucks, which means more and more logging roads, which make these things more and more accessible,” he said. Closing them would “prevent the same thing happening to somebody else.”

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