*** Mineshaft Rescue in Cheyenne Canyon, CO *** To: Search & Rescue Info Date sent: Tue, 20 Feb 96 15:45:29 -0800 From: epcsar@kktv.com Subject: News story: Man Rescued from Mine (Colorado) To: sarinfo@mindlink.bc.ca Colorado Springs, Colorado. February 19, 1996 EL PASO COUNTY TEAM RESCUES MAN FROM MINE SHAFT The El Paso County (Colorado) Search and Rescue team was paged at 1615 hours for a man trapped in a mine shaft. The mine is located off High Drive in the Cheyenne Canyon area southwest of Colorado Springs. The Colorado Springs Fire Department dispatched their heavy rescue truck to the scene along with support personnel. The area was determined to be in county jurisdiction and EPCSAR assumed command of the incident under the Incident Command System (ICS). Firemen and EPCSAR personnel worked together to establish contact with the victim who was reported in good physical health after falling some 35 feet down a vertical shaft inside the abnadoned mine. The mine is described as having a horizontal entrance shaft that ran a short distance before making a 90 degree turn. The vertical shaft was a few feet beyond the turn. The 23 year-old Denver man had entered the mine along with friends and three children. Upon reaching the vertical shaft he attempted to slide down using a small diameter nylon rope. He was unable to maintain a grasp on the rope as rope burns developed on his hands. He fell a short distance to the bottom. The victim told those at the top he was unable to pull himself out with his burned hands. After a careful accessment of ground stability and air quality, an EPCSAR team member was lowered into the shaft where he attended to the victim, and placed him into a climbing harness. The victim was brought up out of the mine and lowered by handline to the road below. Twenty Search and Rescue team members and an unknown number (estimated at 15) of Colorado Springs Fire personnel participated in the rescue. El Paso County officials estimate there are about 90 open abandoned mines in the county. The state of Colorado spends $4.5 million annually to close and reclaim abandoned mines. According to Cheyenne Canyon park personnel, there are several mines in the area whose owners have been able to avoid closure through maintaining minimal mining activity. The event was covered by television news in Colorado Springs and Denver as well as by state newspapers. Submitted by Ron Lee -------------------------------------