Bellon was selected from Toburn because he had worked there for 18 years without a compensable accident. The Toburn Mine in 1948 was the only mine in Canada without a single major compensable accident. That Saturday night, Bellon had listened to a speech by Angus Campbell, President of the Mines Accident Prevention of Ontario. Even we of the mining industry wonder at such a record. Many people wonder if there is such a record.
Mining can be a dangerous business.
Too often in the past, accidents have taken their grim toll of broken limbs and life itself. Five days later Bellon was dead, killed instantly by a three-ton rock fall at Toburn. The rock had crushed him against the side of a stope. He was a timberman and a shift boss at Toburn. Bellon and partner John Ramsay had been working for several months replacing old timber in the 561 west stope.