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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

100 years ago in near Butte, Montana: Nearly 200 feared dead in Speculator Mine fire

Nearly 200 miners were feared dead after a fire in the Speculator Mine near Butte, Montana, The Spokesman-Review reported on June 10, 1917. (Spokesman-Review archives)

The shocking news of the day came from across the mountains: 193 miners were feared dead after a fire in the Speculator Mine near Butte, Mont.

This “appalling calamity” was sparked when the flame of a carbide lamp accidentally touched the insulation of a power cable. Gas in the deep shaft exploded.

The shaft almost immediately resembled a “geyser of flames.” The men below were able to ring for a hoist, yet no one was able to reach them immediately. “Flames were flying from the shaft like a giant torch.”

After more desperate signals from below, the signals finally ceased.

The fire was in the 3,600 foot Granite Mountain shaft, the deepest in Butte. Rescuers poured water down the shaft to quell the fire, and were eventually able to search for the men below. They returned with the sad news that they saw many bodies, and it was unlikely that any men would have been able to survive. They feared the death toll might eventually go over 200.

From the labor beat: A strike by telephone operators shut down all phone service in north Idaho.

A union official said the telephone “girls” were getting a wage “that is far too low, considering the high cost of living in north Idaho.”

They weren’t the only employees of the Interstate Utilities Company going on strike. Linemen, switchboard men and “wire chiefs” also walked out.

The company said it planned to bring in girls from Spokane to take the places of the striking operators.