The alarm about the fire in the Garpenberg mine in Hedemora came at 8 pm on Wednesday. According to the rescue service, a transformer located 880 meters underground had caught fire.
About 30 miners were in the mine and had to seek shelter in an escape chamber – safe room with air for several hours and radio contact with the control room located at ground level.
No one injured
– You have to respect mine fires, because there are long distances and a lot of smoke that spreads down there. But at the same time, when a fire starts in a mine, you know where to go, there are rescue chambers at regular intervals, says Nils Westlien, rescue manager on duty.
After the smoke was ventilated, the miners could be evacuated starting at 11 p.m.
– At 23.47 the mine was evacuated and the rescue service has left the scene, says Jenny Holmberg, team leader at SOS alarm.
No one should have been injured in connection with the fire or the evacuation.
The police state that they will open an investigation into the workplace accident.