A federal mine inspector who died Thursday night in the coal mine in Utah was based out of the Lakewood office of the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration.
Gary L. Jensen, 53, and the father of four children, had worked as a mine inspector and volunteer rescue-team member for MSHA since 2001. He worked the past five years as a roof inspector of coal mines, spending much of his time inside the mines to ensure that supports and shoring were safe.
Jensen and his family lived in Price, Utah, where he had spent most of his life. Prior to joining the federal agency, he worked as a safety inspector for Southern Utah Fuel Co. in Salina, Utah.
“He was an exceptional guy,” said Bill Knepp, MSHA assistant district manager in Lakewood and one of Jensen’s supervisors. “He was very gregarious and well-liked, but he took his job very seriously.
“Gary was one of the few to volunteer for the mine-rescue unit. These are the guys who get called into the worst of the situations, usually fires and explosions. We had a hard time putting together a Western mine-rescue team.
“Gary and them knew the risks. But they stepped up and volunteered for the safety of the other miners,” Knepp said.
Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman told a morning news conference: “These men died as heroes, risking their lives to save others.”
Jensen was in the Crandall Canyon Mine near Huntington, Utah, working with rescuers trying to reach six miners who were trapped underground by a collapse Aug. 6. The rescuers were cleaning out rock debris that had fallen into the main horizontal tunnel in an attempt to reach the trapped miners.
A “bounce” or seismic eruption occurred inside the mountain at 6:39 p.m. MDT on Thursday, which caused a rock slide. Jensen and two others were killed, and six were injured. One of the injured was another MSHA inspector, who is expected to recover after undergoing surgery today, Knepp said.
The bodies and the injured were recovered Thursday night. Some had to be dug out from under 2-to-3 feet of coal that had buried them.
Staff writer Mike McPhee can be reached at mmcphee@denverpost.com or 303-954-1409.
