Big Pit fire (1913)

Three men died in a fire near the underground stables while trying to rescue the pit ponies stabled there; the horses survived.

Date	7 April 1913
Mine	Big Pit
Region	Torfaen
Primary type	Fire
Associated types	Rescue
Fatalities	3
Context	During active mining

Four panels: fire near the underground stables, the rescue party going into the smoke, fumes filling the roadway with lamps left on the floor, and the ponies led out alive. — The Big Pit fire of 1913 in four stages © MineArchive

The surface buildings and headgear at Big Pit, Blaenavon. — Big Pit, Blaenavon Steinsky, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons / Geograph

Cause

The fire is believed to have started near the underground stables; the exact source of ignition was not established.

What happened

On 7 April 1913, a fire broke out near the underground stables at Big Pit. Arthur Tucker (26, manager of Kay's slope), Joseph Jenkins (43, under-manager of Big Pit) and William Bond (30, fireman) died trying to rescue the horses stabled there. None of the horses died in the fire.

Rescue & recovery

There was no shortage of volunteers for the rescue party that went underground once the fire was discovered. Arthur Tucker, Joseph Jenkins and William Bond went into the smoke to try to bring the stabled pit ponies out and were overcome by fumes; the horses themselves survived. Joseph Jenkins's own son had to be physically restrained from going underground himself to try to save his father.

Recorded claims

Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

Arthur Tucker (26), Joseph Jenkins (43) and William Bond (30) died on 7 April 1913 trying to rescue pit ponies from a fire near the underground stables; none of the horses died. ¹
Joseph Jenkins's son had to be restrained from going underground to try to rescue his father. ¹
The Northern Mine Research Society's listing and the Blaenavon World Heritage Site's own history of the mine independently corroborate the date, names and circumstances of this fire; the Blaenavon World Heritage Site's account is the source for the detail that Joseph Jenkins's son had to be restrained from going underground himself. ^2,3

Related terminology

Mining terms this disaster is structurally linked to, with the nature of the relationship.

Fireman (contextual relationship)
Named in this record’s narrative: “…Joseph Jenkins (43, under-manager of Big Pit) and William Bond (30, fireman) died trying to rescue the horses stabled there. None of the horses…”
Pit Pony (contextual relationship)
Named 5 times in this record, first in the summary: “Three men died in a fire near the underground stables while trying to rescue the pit ponies stabled there; the horses…”

Sources

(secondary) Big Pit Blaenavon — Welsh Coal Mines
(secondary) Big Pit, Blaenavon — Northern Mine Research Society
(secondary) Big Pit: A Brief History — Blaenavon World Heritage Site

Record created: 20 August 2026 · Last researched: 20 August 2026