By Mike Alexieff

September 22, 2017 - Danny Knott has seen a lot of changes in the coal mining industry since he first went underground at Island Creek's Crescent mine in 1975. He's gone from being bottom man on the totem pole to being inducted this month into the National Coal Mine Rescue Hall of Fame.

Knott, 63, had an interest in safety from his first days in the mine. He started as a member of the first aid team at Crescent and then the rescue team when he went to a Peabody mine a couple of years later.

"I've seen a lot of accidents, especially at the Crescent mine," he said from his office at the Madisonville Community College Kentucky Coal Academy. "I wanted to learn how to help somebody."

Knott saw multiple accidents in the two years he spent at Crescent, mostly broken arm or legs from roof collapses.

"It seemed like people wanted safety," he said, "but a lot of times production or productivity seemed to get ahead of it."

Knott and his bride, Melony, talked about the risks of mining, but came to accept the danger as part of the lifestyle.

"We talked about it, but we pretty much knew when you go underground, there was a risk you take," he said.

He got more experience fighting the Camp mines fires in Union County in 1984 and 1985.

"It was kind of scary going in the smoke," he said. "You couldn't hardly see your hand in front of your face."

Those experiences stayed with Knott, especially the team work.

Over the ensuing years, Knott worked his way up after beginning as a "air blaster." At Peabody, he used dynamite, and then moved on to roof bolting followed by running various pieces of machinery -- walking the belts, operating a shuttle car and then a scoop.

Then, seeing a downturn in mining coming, he began to put out feelers for other positions. When he was laid off by Peabody in 1990, he went to work for the Kentucky Department of Mines and Minerals.

When interviewed for a job as a safety instructor, he was asked if he had any experience teaching.

"I said, 'No, sir, but I teach Sunday school,'" Knott recalled. "He said, 'That's good enough for me.'"

For the next 19 years, he worked as a safety instructor, teaching miners how to stay alive underground.

Then, in 2009, he transferred to the coal academy as director of the mine rescue team.

Now, he enjoys being able to teach miners and would-be miners what he has learned over the years. Some 1,500 people pass each year through the academy next to Browning Springs Middle School, even with the industry smaller than it was two decades ago.

Knott appreciates those who undergo rescue training.

"You have to be able to wear the breathing apparatus," he said. "You have to be able to go into a mine that may blow up. It takes a special person to go in when others are coming out. You have to have the will."

Rick Caskey is the academy's fire brigade director, and in fact helped Knott get his job.

"He has a passion for it," Caskey said. "He's a very intelligent guy and he has a network across the nation. He gains the confidence of team members easily."

Of his hall of fame induction, Knott said, "It's a humbling thing and an honor. I'm blessed by all the people God has put me in contact with over the years that have helped me." 

Knott demonstrates the video capabilities of the Madisonville Community College Mine Rescue Team's emergency response trailer. 

Photo by Mike Alexieff, The Messenger