mining officials. By noon Thursday, the miners had to retreat to the highest ground, about from the airshaft, near Entry No. 1. With water rising away, miner Randy Fogle estimated that they had about an hour left to live. Notes were written, prayers were said, and most of the miners roped themselves together, to die as a family. However, as dewatering continued, they noticed and confirmed the water had ceased to rise. Switching to survival mode, the drenched miners sought to conserve resources and sat back to back to fight hypothermia in their environment. Crew chief Fogle in particular encouraged them, confident of rescue. Dennis Hall's lunch pail was discovered floating and was retrieved, with the still dry corned beef sandwich his wife had made him, and a bottle of Pepsi, while Thomas Foy found two Mountain Dews on one of their machines. The miners at this point could hear the drilling getting nearer, but at 1:50a.m. Friday it stopped. Issues during drilling operation A "super drill", capable of drilling a hole, had been sent with police escort up from West Virginia. Once oxygen purging began, drillers had begun the 30-inch Rescue Hole No. 1 at 6:45p.m., Thursday, July 25, to intersect 1-Left section. It was located approximately away from the ventilation hole, and was drilled to a depth by 1:12 a.m., Friday, July 26, when the drill bit broke. The distance from this point to the mine was estimated at . At 3:45a.m. a portion of the bit was retrieved from the hole, but it was discovered that part of the bit had broken off and remained stuck in the hole. A special tool was needed to be fabricated in order to assist in retrieving the bit. Normally, such a job would be done in three or four days, but a 95-member machine shop in Big Run, Jefferson County, was able to build the tool in approximately three hours. A National Guard helicopter flew the tool in, and the bit was retrieved from Rescue Hole No. 1 at 4:09p.m. on July 26. The failure of drilling equipment stopped progress at this borehole for about 18 hours. The miners were concerned. Foley opined that they might have plugged up or might have broken a bit, and reassured the others that drilling would surely begin again. The miners' relatives were taken to the mine on the afternoon of the 25th and