Memories — Communities come together to grieve over loss at mine
For those who remembered Dale Black, it was his legacy to come from generations of miners.
"This is all that we've known. Every generation there has been at least one miner," said Black's cousin, Azure Davis.
Black, a husband and father of a 17-year-old son and a daughter who has just gotten married, was one of the three rescuers killed Thursday evening in Crandall Canyon Mine while trying to save six others trapped following a collapse Aug. 6.
Family members Friday described Black as a "very rugged outdoorsman" whose passion was hunting. He was a hunting guide for Davis' father, and the two had planned to go out on the first day of bow hunt season for deer, which is today. This isn't the first mining tragedy in the Davis or Black families. Davis' father has been injured "quite a few times" while working in the mines, she said.
But what makes this exceptionally hard for the families was that Davis is also a cousin of missing miner Kerry Allred. Now her family is grieving for two men but holding out hope that one will still come home.
"All the miners know exactly what they're getting into when they get into a mine," Davis said.
But even knowing that risk and knowing there's a possibility they might get hurt, it doesn't prevent the miners from doing their jobs.
"It's a way of life. It's a way of getting food on the table for the families," Davis said.
Davis encouraged the public to keep praying for the six miners, feeling positive that at some point the rescuers will "get a break."
If you ask 5-year-old Bryton Kimber, her dad was a superhero.
"She said just the other day, 'My dad is like Superman, he just can't fly,"' said Kristen Kimber, Bryton's mother.
Many people considered Brandon Kimber a hero. Kimber was one of the three men killed Thursday night while trying to rescue six other miners believed to be trapped inside the Crandall Canyon Mine.
"We're just trying to do the best we can ... trying to get his funeral arrangements, trying to keep the kids as calm as we can," Kristen Kimber said.
Although they had divorced, Kristen and Brandon had remained friends. They had three children together including Bryton and twin boys Peyton and Paxton, both 4.
Brandon was a man who liked the outdoors, and recently he purchased a dirt bike, which had become his new passion.
Brandon also had worked 3 1/2 years underground in the mines. He was on the mine rescue team before becoming a shift boss. In fact, when the media were allowed inside the mine to take pictures within the first few days of the original collapse, Kristen said it was Brandon's crew that was working. Brandon and many of the men who were injured or in the mine Thursday night are the ones seen in video that has been shown on news networks across the world over the past week, she said.
Brandon had been at the mine every day since the initial collapse.
"When this whole thing occurred, all of us were really worried. He called us up and said, 'Those are my brothers.' He loved those men, and he went underground every day knowing the risks, knowing what could happen. He took that risk," Kristen said.
Dusten Heugly said he knew one of the rescuers killed Thursday but refused to give out his name until it was released officially by mining authorities. That man was later identified as Kimber.
"He was a regular, nice guy," Heugly said. "He was the type of guy you'd want to be your neighbor."
E-mail: preavyi@desnews.com
Recent comments
My heart goes out to Brandon and his family. I've known Brandon…
April McCollum | Aug. 19, 2007 at 12:41 a.m.
I have prayed for the safe return of all. And for the comfort of…
Penelope Kourakis | Aug. 18, 2007 at 11:47 a.m.
It is getting harder to find true hero's these days just read some…
Kathy Swenson | Aug. 18, 2007 at 9:01 a.m.
