SUNRISE COAL TAKES 1ST PLACE IN SPRING 2016 KCA/MCC MINE RESCUE SKILLS CONTEST

The Kentucky Coal Academy (KCA) and Madisonville Community College (MCC) hosted the annual spring regional mine rescue skills contest on April 7. Nine teams from five coal companies in Kentucky and Indiana took to the competition field to test their skills in mine rescue, fire hose management, smoke training, first aid, and preliminaries (written test, breathing apparatus, and gas testing). Participating teams were:

Alliance Resource Partners, L.P. (Kentucky and Indiana)

Dotiki

Excel

Gibson County

River View
Warrior

Peabody Energy (Indiana)
Francisco

Sunrise Coal, LLC (Indiana)
Sunrise

Alden Resources, LLC (Kentucky)
Alden

Indiana State Team (Indiana)
Indiana State

Sunrise Coal from Vincennes, Indiana, earned 1st place. Excel Mining from eastern Kentucky took 2nd place. River View Coal took 3rd place.

The top 3 teams are now eligible to compete in the 2016 Nationwide Mine Rescue Skills Championship to be held at the KCA/MCC Mine Emergency Rescue Academy (MERA) in Madisonville on October 5-6, 2016. MERA, located on the MCC campus at 150 School Avenue in Madisonville, specializes in designing contests to challenge the mine rescue team mentally and physically, as well as, to place a strong emphasis on hands on training. The facility houses a simulated mine with 4 entries and 4 crosscuts, along with a blowing and exhaust ventilation fan. It is also equipped with a state-of-the-art burn room and propane power center fire prop that is operated by remote as well as a concrete firefighting pad designed for hose management.