This vintage newspaper image shows the Stanton No. 7 Colliery before it was destroyed by fire in 1932.
File photo
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Glen Alden Coal Company shut down the Stanton No. 7 Colliery in May 1932 to modernize the breaker in preparation of coal output from the Hollenback, Empire and Stanton mines.
Ten days before 2,000 miners were scheduled to return to work at the Stanton Colliery, a fire destroyed the breaker on Oct. 21, 1932.
“Leveled for the third time since the first breaker was erected on the site in the late 1870s, last night’s razing of the Stanton struck a triple blow at the anthracite industry,” reported the Times Leader on Oct. 22, 1932.
The newspaper called the blaze, “The most disastrous fire here in 10 years.”
Renovations totaling $500,000 to the breaker also included underground tunneling connecting the Hollenback mine to the Stanton mine.
“The Hollenback breaker was abandoned early this year and since that time, underground tunnels have been driven to allow transportation of this mine’s product to Stanton Colliery for preparation. Empire mine coal was to be transported over land and Stanton coal was to be hoisted at the colliery shaft,” the Record reported.
Stanton No. 7 was scheduled to resume processing coal on Nov. 1 employing nearly 2,000 miners.
Loss of employment greatly impacted the Wyoming Valley as the Great Depression was in its third year at the time of the breaker’s loss. The Times Leader reported several stores and meat markets in the Heights, Newtown and Wilkes-Barre Township gave credit to miners for goods and food against the scheduled resumption of operations of the Stanton colliery on Nov. 1.
“If the breaker had reopened, 200 men would have been engaged in the structure on the outside and 1,800 men would have worked in the Stanton, Empire and Hollenback mines,” the Wilkes-Barre Record reported Oct. 22, 1932.
The Record reported flames reached 700 feet into the air lighting the dusk sky when the blaze erupted just after 4:30 p.m.
“About 4:35 o’clock, residents of the Mayflower section saw the upper part of the structure in flames and turned in the alarm. The electricians smelling smoke ran from the lower part and during the next 10 minutes alarm after alarm was sounded,” the Record reported.
Wilkes-Barre Fire Chief Thomas Flannery was one of the first to arrive and immediately ordered a general alarm, calling in additional firefighting companies.
“The nine city fire companies reached the colliery yard only to find it impossible to combat the flames which were quickly devouring the mammoth structure. The wind carried the flames and sparks toward Georgetown section of Wilkes-Barre Township,” the Record reported.
Smaller buildings, coal cars and lumber piles also burnt while powder houses containing explosives were endangered.
“Firemen soaked the powder houses for a half hour before concentrating with other department members in the attempt to extinguish the breaker blaze,” reported the Record.
Railroad ties a quarter of a mile away were burned and heat from the blaze blistered painted doors and siding on buildings up to 1,000 feet away. Acetylene tanks within and nearby the burning structure exploded.
Those working at the Stanton breaker placed sheet iron and timbers over the shaft to prevent the fire or smoke from entering the mines, the Times Leader reported.
“The 100 foot high steel hoisting tower was white hot during height of the fire and appeared to be several feet out of plumb. Water was kept from the steel as firemen feared it would crack and collapse,” reported the Record.
All that remained was the iron and steel frame of the breaker when the fire was extinguished.
A crew of 20 firefighters remained at the scene overnight hitting hot spots to prevent flareups.
“Origin of the fire was a mystery to fire department officials,” the Times Leader reported.
It wasn’t the first fire that destroyed the Stanton Colliery.
“At two o’clock yesterday morning, the steam gongs and the city fire alarm pealed forth with such vigor as to give evidence that a fire of no mean importance was in progress. It was determined that it was the Stanton Breaker,” reported the Record of the Times newspaper on May 19, 1879.
A blaze destroyed the colliery again on Nov. 20, 1909.