It weighs on their minds, every time they strap on their gear, put on their hard hats and head down into the darkness.

"It's a coal miner's worst nightmare," said Ken Gunter, who works at the Deer Creek Mine near Huntington. "It's on the back of your mind all the time, the possibility of this happening to you."

The situation facing the six trapped miners inside the Crandall Canyon Mine is weighing heavily on those who work in other mines in Utah's coal country. While rescue efforts are under way, hundreds of others go down into the mines every day, 24 hours a day, for work.

"It's just life. That's part of our job," said Gunter, who said he's getting "a little long in years" and is now working outside the mine. "We deal with it and just go on."

Underground, conditions vary depending on the area you are in. It could be wet and muddy or dry and dusty. It's dark in some places. Really dark.

"You got 100 percent darkness other than your cap light," he said. "You turn the lights off, you can't see your hand in front of your face, it's total blackness."

While many people picture a tight, confined space inside a mine, miners said it can be fairly spacious. As much as 20 feet wide and 8 feet high, stretching for miles. It can be deep. Mines here in Utah are not like those in the eastern United States.

"We're talking 1,500 feet of solid rock. That's a whole different world," Gunter said.

The depths also create "bouncing," where the pressure shifts inside the mine from the mountain above. Some seismic shifts have registered on the Richter scale.

"Like the floor throws you in the air and drops ya," he said. "A bounce can be anywhere from a big noise or a boom or the rib, the pressure pushes out and blows chunks of coal right out of the wall."

The tragedy at the Crandall Canyon Mine has many other miners thinking about safety — their own and the mines they are in.

"I would just think it's human nature," said Mike Dalpiaz of the United Mine Workers of America District 22 in Price. "Anything can happen in the mines. Anything is possible."

Miners carry methane, carbon monoxide and oxygen detectors; an oxygen apparatus; and other safety equipment.

Steve Oliver said he applauds not only the work the miners do but also their courage and bravery. He once worked at a local mine. After just one eight-hour shift, the Emery County man quit and never went back.

"It scared the hell out of me," Oliver said.

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Contributing: Pat Reavy

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E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com