One of the nine coal miners rescued in 2002 from Quecreek Mine in Somerset County has died.
An obituary indicates Randy Fogle, 68, of Garrett died Wednesday at Windber Hospice. He is survived by three children, five grandchildren and two siblings. A viewing is scheduled for Friday from 4-8 p.m. at Beachdale Church of the Brethren where a funeral service will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Fogle and eight other miners became trapped 240 feet underground in Quecreek Mine on July 24, 2002, after drilling into an abandoned coal seam, causing millions of gallons of icy water to gush into the mine. Over the ensuing hours and days, local, state and federal officials determined where they believed the miners were trapped and formulated a plan to bring them to the surface.
Through a tunnel, a rescue capsule was sent to the miners and brought them to the surface one by one. Fogle, the foreman, was the first to be rescued around 1 a.m. July 28, 2002.
He returned to coal mining afterwards, according to a 2017 TribLive article. Fogle retired as a coal miner, his obituary indicated.
In a 2012 interview leading up to the 10th anniversary, Fogle said: “You think about things a little bit more than you used to day to day. I could’ve been dead for 10 years. So I’ve had 10 years. Each day’s a good day you’re alive, and that’s how you have to look at it.”
During his life after the rescue, he enjoyed fishing and hunting and was a member of New Baltimore Sportsman’s Club, according to his obituary.
The U.S. Department of Labor found that outdated and inaccurate maps that dated back to 1957 led to the Quecreek mine accident.
Fogle is the second miner rescued from Quecreek who has died. Dennis Hall died in 2022 at 68.
The other rescued miners were John Unger, Robert Pugh, Blaine Mayhugh, Ronald Hileman, Mark Popernack, John Phillippi, and Tom Foy. The site of the rescue is now a memorial. Several of the miners visited it in July 2022 for the 20th anniversary of the rescue.