Friday marks the 35th anniversary of one the nation's worst coal mining disasters.
UNION COUNTY, Ky. (WEVV) � Friday marks the 35th anniversary of one the nation's worst coal mining disasters. In 1989, 10 men died at Pyro's William Station Mine near Sullivan, Kentucky.
The methane explosion occurred at 9:30 in the morning at William Station Mine in Union County. Friends and family members affected by the tragedy remember that dark day in the Tri-State.
Kendell Staton says the explosion changed the trajectory of her life. "At 11-years-old in a nanosecond. Nothing was the same after that." Staton was just 11 when her father Rick Ferguson passed away. It's a day that changed her life forever after losing a person who taught her so much "Whenever he would come in in the mornings... I would write him a note the night before... And then when he came in he would reply because we didn't get to see each other very often."
Kendell was just one of the children who lost their father that day - other men like Terry Harris left behind families too - like his twin sons and Scott Harris.
For Jamie Crowell, he knew those miners well, working the shift right before and being one of the people who talked to them last - moments before the explosionÂ
"I left the mine like normal... And then we're on 41 between Providence and Nebo and start meeting ambulances. One, two, and then 10 of them and we ask ourselves 'what's going on?'"
Warren Stewart was another miner who died that day at just 40 years old. He left behind a loving family including his wife, daughter, and son - and would have now been a grandfather.
Investigators say Stewart was dragging another miner to safety when they both died. Lynn Ashmore, Kenneth Reed, Roger Clifford, Mark Hedges , Curtis Scott, Anthony McElroy, and James Tinsley were among the men who died.
Attorney John Whitfield represented a number of the widows in a civil lawsuit. He says their deaths led to stricter mine safety guidelines for the next generation of coal miners.
"William Smith Station had a pretty poor safety record prior to September 13th, 1989. So how they use methane monitors to check the levels in the mines changed significantly this accident," Whitfield says.
The parent company of Pyro, Costain Coal, paid $3.75 million in fines for 121 safety violations. The federal government also prosecuted 15 Pyro officials. Three company executives were given prison terms, while others served home incarceration and were given probation.
One of the widows is working to build a memorial for the men in Union County. A completion date has not been set.
