BEAVER, W.Va. — The lives of two southern West Virginia coal miners will be remembered in a ceremony Monday morning dedicating a new training program at the National Mine Health and Safety Academy in Raleigh County.
Don Bragg and Elvis Hatfield died in an underground mine fire at Massey Energy’s Aracoma Coal Alma No. 1 Mine in Logan County in Jan. 2006. Bragg and Hatfield got separated from others miners on their crew during a belt fire and because of the heavy smoke and lack of proper ventilation they didn’t make it out alive.
The miners’ widows filed a lawsuit against the federal government alleging the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration, MSHA, didn’t do its part to keep their husbands safe. Part of a settlement approved in September required MSHA to implement a new safety program at the agency’s training center near Beckley. The ceremony is set for Monday at 10 a.m. 
The ceremony will include remarks from MSHA chief Joe Main and the presentation of a memorial plaque which reads, “In Memory of Don Bragg and Ellery Hatfield who died in the Aracoma Mine Fire of January 19, 2006, and all miners who have died in mine fires in this nation.”
Monday’s event will also include an overview of a new monitoring system that focuses on fire prevention along with a tour of the Mine Simulation Lab that shows fire suppression on the belt line, a control center for the fire detection system and a command center.
Bruce Stanley, the attorney for widows Delorice Bragg and Freda Hatfield, previously told MetroNews mine safety was the priority of the women when they filed the lawsuit against MSHA. Stanley said now MSHA will “train miners in underground fire protection so we don’t have another Aracoma.”