2 Emerge Unhurt After 30 Hours in Mine Fire

After being trapped in a flame-engulfed, deserted gold mine near Mojave for nearly 30 hours, two San Fernando Valley men walked out of the mine shaft, dust-covered and thirsty but unhurt.

“I thought we were in Hell,” said Douglas Wade Hampton of Reseda. “I thought this is what it would be like.”

Hampton, 30, said he and Adam Wayne Meyers, 23, of Woodland Hills had ventured into the abandoned mine on Silver Queen Road about noon Thursday, when they heard a loud explosion and saw a fire break out at the mine’s entrance. The men ran farther into the 26-mile, pitch-black mine to escape the flames, narrowly avoiding a roof cave-in along the way, Hampton said.

“Smoke started filling up the cave, and that’s when we started to get worried,” Hampton said. They found a spot deep in the mine shaft that had fresh air--but that turned into a chilling wind as night fell.

Huddled Close for Warmth

Clothed only in shorts and tennis shoes, the two, who have been good friends for 15 years, huddled close for warmth and tried to sleep to escape their mounting panic.

“We were so cold we hugged each other for 20 hours straight,” Hampton said. “We stole embers from the fire so that we could keep warm.

Hampton said he started sending telepathic messages to his wife and worried that he would never get to see the baby she is expecting in eight weeks. Yet, he said, being with a longtime friend kept him from letting panic overtake him.

Friday morning, the families of the two men, who had taken a trip into the desert to run Meyers’ four-wheel truck, filed a missing persons report, Kern County Sheriffs’ Deputy Richard Dixon said.

Pickup Truck Found

Meanwhile, Dixon said, a passer-by reported the mine fire to county firefighters. The firefighters found a pickup truck registered to Meyers at the entrance of the burning mine and determined that the men were trapped inside.

A search-and-rescue team, wearing special breathing equipment, ventured into the mine about noon Friday but could not locate the men, Dixon said. A later attempt by the 10-man search team also was unsuccessful.

However, the rescue team left flares in the front and middle sections of the mine which served to guide the men, who had found a rope and tied it around each other to avoid falling into the deep shafts that dot the mine’s floor, Hampton said.

By 3:30 p.m. Friday, the fire was partially extinguished. The men ventured out on their own about 5 p.m. “laughing and crying “ and were reunited with family and friends, Dixon said.

“When we got out, our friends were yelling, ‘We knew you guys were alive so we brought six-packs and food!’ ” Hampton said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.