[packrat35]

In the morning of May 2, 1972, a fire broke out in the Sunshine Mine. According to the US Mine Rescue Association, 91 workers died from smoke inhalation or carbon monoxide poisoning; 83 men were rescued, 81 on May 2 and two on May 9. The mine was closed for seven months after the fire, which was one of the worst mining disasters in American history and is the worst disaster in Idaho’s history. Today, a monument to the lost miners stands beside Interstate 90 near the mine.

From wikipedia

[Alberta's Child]

I remember reading about that incident years later. Apparently the ventilation system ended up causing a lot of the fatalities because it was drawing smoke-filled air into a part of the mine where survivors could have held out for a long while.

Look at the dates of the rescues, too. Those dates are accurate: The last two survivors were found a week later, and their survival was credited to a supervisor who violated mine safety protocols by leaving all the fire safety doors open as his group fled from the mine (they were supposed to be closed behind them to seal off sections of the mine in the event of a fire). This allowed fresh air to vent up from the deepest parts of the mine and allowed those last two guys to make their way far down into the mine where they were found a week later.