 Francis Taylor is the first recorded fatality at the colliery , killed by a roof fall at " Bradford coal pitt " in 1622 . Although the mines were relatively gas @-@ free , there were nevertheless some gas @-@ related incidents . One collier , working by the light of a candle in 1874 , died from burns received in an explosion of firedamp . In 1907 a miner died in a shotfiring incident , when gas exploded as a fuse was lit . In 1924 a number of tubs transporting miners being hauled to the surface derailed and dislodged a pit prop , causing a roof collapse , known locally as a crump ; three men were killed and nine injured . The heat from a fire in the main winding engine house in 1953 caused the winding cables to snap , sending two coal @-@ carrying cages crashing to the bottom of the main shaft and trapping 350 men underground . All managed to reach a smaller shaft 40 yards ( 37 m ) away and were subsequently brought safely to the surface . 
