Miners trapped — 'You've just got to pray ... and hope they're OK'

HUNTINGTON, Emery County — Hometown Market, Huntington's only grocery store, is aptly named for this small, central Utah town where longtime residents treat strangers like longtime friends.

It's the place where Julie Jones, a member of Huntington's City Council, came Monday to buy food to cook for the family members of six miners who are trapped in the Crandall Canyon Mine. It is the place where Dwayne Timothy, a miner, stopped to buy water on his way to participate in the rescue operation.

And it is the place where many residents of this town, with a population of less than 2,000, came to ask each other, "Is there anything new? Have you heard anything?"

The task of waiting for news clearly showed on their faces.

"We're just this sleepy little town and a quiet community," said Julie Miller, who stopped by the store Monday for groceries. "Everybody knows everybody. ... I'm sure I know one of (the miners who is trapped). You just feel for these people, and you cling to the hope that they will be returned to the community in one piece."

Most residents learned of the trapped miners from news reports that started coming in early Monday, but the preliminary information was unclear.

Some residents who worked at a nearby power plant said they felt the early morning tremors that were first thought to be an earthquake, but later they found out the vibrations came from a collapse.

Few people knew the miners' names or the current status of the rescue operation — but that didn't matter. For a town that is comprised mostly of miners, everyone has a husband or a friend or a son who works or has worked in the mine, Jones said, and everyone cares.

"Until you get a phone call that says your son or brother or husband is not one of them, you just don't know," Jones said. "And when you get that phone call, it still pulls at your heart. You're relieved for your personal (situation), but you feel for (everyone else) because you know how it is. You've just got to pray, that's all. Pray and hope they're OK."

Timothy, a resident of Price who works in a nearby coal mine, had just come home from a vacation to Wyoming when he got the phone call that said, 'We need you here now.'

As he got into his truck to drive up Huntington Canyon toward the mine, Timothy said his heart was racing.

He knew he was heading into danger, but he didn't hesitate.