CRANDALL CANYON MINE — The miners working to free their six colleagues from the Crandall Canyon Mine expressed confidence that the men are still alive and that their rescue efforts will be a success.

"I firmly believe they are alive right now," said Bodee Allred, a safety supervisor at the mine. "By no means do I think they're enjoying what's going on right now, but I have full faith that they are in fact alive and breathing."

Allred, 34, is the cousin of Kerry Allred, who he confirmed Wednesday is one of the six men who have been trapped 1,500 feet down in the mine since 2:48 a.m. Monday. Bodee Allred, a Castle Dale native, said he has worked with four of the other men for about 10 years. The sixth man has only been part of the crew for about three weeks.

"I know these gentlemen quite well," he said, adding that's the reason he's confident the men are alive and well.

"I just know the mentality of them," Allred said. "I know they wouldn't quit or give up, and I know they got what they need."

Allred said he hasn't left the site since the mine collapsed. The 132 miners taking part in the rescue efforts have been working around the clock in 12-hour shifts.

"These guys are working nonstop," Allred said. "They're on a 12-hour rotation, and you've almost got to make them leave here."

At a tour of the mine, arranged by mine owner Bob Murray Wednesday, reporters were kept some distance from the rescue operation. Crews hauled in wood beams and steel posts, preparing to go underground. Most miners participating in the rescue efforts were stone-faced, but some fought back tears as they spoke to other rescuers.

Laine Adair, general manager of UtahAmerican Energy Inc., leads the underground efforts to rescue men he describes as family.

"We're trying to rescue our brothers in that mine," Adair said. "We're doing the very best we know how, and we definitely know how."

The six trapped miners were in the middle of working a 12-hour shift when the mine shaft they were in collapsed in a seismic event that registered 3.9 on the Richter scale. Ten miners were in the area, four managed to escape.

Adair said rescue operations moved forward Wednesday following a major setback Tuesday in which crews twice were forced out of the mine because of continued seismic activity. Crews had progressed 310 feet toward the trapped miners, who are about 17,000 feet from the mine entrance, but all of that progress was wiped out.

Most of the seismic activity has quieted, he said, allowing crews Wednesday morning to prep the mine with steel beams and 8x8-inch wood posts to reinforce the shaft ceiling.

"We're going back in now with additional precautions," Adair said Wednesday afternoon. "One of those precautions was time. We give it almost 24 hours to let the mountain quit acting up. We're back in there now, and we're doing a good job."

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