Mine-shaft accident second at same site in recent months

Jen Lawson

Friday, Jan. 17, 2003 | 9:32 a.m.

The state plans to take action to close a mine where a 62-year-old Alaska man and his son fell into a shaft Thursday, injuring the father.

Bill Durbin, chief of the state Division of Minerals abandoned mines program, said he will ask Clark County officials to close the privately owned, abandoned mine in a remote area near Sandy Valley, where a similar incident occurred in October.

"Something needs to be done" about the mine, Durbin said, adding he planned to ask the county to secure the site instead of waiting for the owner to do so.

Tyson Whittock, 62, and his son Roger, 30, fell 20 feet down a shaft at the mine Thursday. Tyson Whittock received head and neck injuries and was in fair condition at University Medical Center this morning. Roger Whittock was not injured.

In October a 36-year-old Seattle man who was on a scavenger hunt fell into the same shaft and is now paralyzed.

"It's a high hazard mine," Durbin said from his Carson City office. " We're going to have a discussion with the county about this and see what we can do to make sure something gets done out there."

Durbin said he wants to get the mine secured as soon as possible so that no one else gets hurt.

On Thursday the Whittocks with two other men -- another father and son -- and a Chihuahua named Cinderella began exploring the mine, located 1.5 miles up a narrow, rugged road from Interstate 15, a few miles from Sandy Valley. The spot is about 40 miles southwest of Las Vegas.

With flashlights and cameras in hand, they hiked to the end of the 400- to 600-foot long mine. About 150 feet in they spotted the 25-foot deep mine shaft and carefully walked along 18-inch rock ledge to avoid it.

But on the way out, the light was behind them, and Tyson and Roger Whittock fell into the shaft. Roger Whittock was able to climb out. His father became trapped 22 feet down the shaft.

"It was a pretty serious situation," Roger Whittock said minutes after his father was rescued.

Their friends -- Carl Hayden, his father, Forest, and their dog, also visiting from Alaska -- came out of the mine and climbed up a ridge to get a cell phone signal. They called 911 while Roger Whittock stayed with his father.

Steve McClintock, rural coordinator for the Clark County Fire Department, said Metro Police's Search and Rescue team and county firefighters used ropes and a pulley as well as a special basket used to haul injured people up steep surfaces to rescue Whittock.

The rescuers got the call about 9:20 a.m. and by 11:45 a.m. Whittock had been brought out of the mine.

Roger Whittock, who has lived in Las Vegas for about a year, said this won't keep him from exploring mines.

"I'm still going to go into mines and walk around and check things out," Roger Whittock said. He added that he's sure his father, who is in the mining business in Alaska, would do the same.

However, Sgt. Clint Bassett of Metro's Search and Rescue team, said exploring abandoned mines is dangerous. He called this mine "an attractive nuisance."

"People get hurt in mines all the time," he said. " It's not a place to play."

As of Dec. 31 the Nevada Division of Minerals had identified 1,517 mine openings in Clark County as potentially dangerous, Durbin said. Of that total, 959 have been secured either by putting a fence around the property, boarding up the opening or filling it with dirt.

The Argentena mine is among the most hazardous, Durbin said. It's ranked 10 on a scale of 1 to 10 in terms of danger.

It's owned by a resident of Southern California, whom Durbin tried to reach Thursday, and it was most likely in the owner's family for generations. It was active intermittently from 1927 to 1962 and yielded zinc, lead, silver, copper and a small amount of gold, Durbin said.

When an accident occurs at a privately owned mine, Durbin said, his agency notifies the owner that the mine opening needs to be secured and asks for a response within 60 days.

A letter was sent to the owner a few weeks after the October incident, but the 60 days to respond hasn't passed yet, he said.

Mine owners who fail to comply are subject to a $250 fine, plus up to double the expense the county will shell out to fence, board or fill the opening.