had an old opening in their back yard which was part of an old coal mine operation which had closed during the depression and was partially filled in we use to play in .
No one ever gave it a thought but eventually it was filled in and you would never know it was there today.
Most coal mining in Allegheny County stopped after mines shut down during the depression or shortly after WWII and all underground coal mining stopped with closing of Russelton , Harmar in northern Allegheny county and New Field Coal mine in Penn Hills in 80s.
With so many old coal mines closed and sealed off you would never give it a second thought something deadly was at play .
But thats exactly what played out one sunny afternoon when some young boys went to play in an old coal mines workings.
What we did not know and what 2 young boys playing in a old coal mine depression and police officer who would lose his life trying to save them was these old coal workings can produce a dangerous substance known as Black Damp a invisible gas with no smell which displaces all the oxygen in the air.
It was a brite and sunny day September 12 in 1979 when some young boys would go playing at one of there favorite sites an old coal mine shaft behind the Jefferson Hills Cemetery in Pleasant Hills not knowing it would be their last .
A call to emergency dispatch at Pleasant Hills would see a young Officer Breisinger on the scene first and he would find 2 young boys laying in the shaft not moving he would go into to try and rescue them and succumb to the gas himself several days later.
The shaft would be filled in and forgotten and a memorial to the officer and boys now sits beside the municipal building largely forgotten tragedy with a huge warning to all those who dare venture into old abandoned coal mine working railroad tunnels etc
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| Local Explorers at the memorial |
