Our History

In 1990, a mine fire threatened 38 miners at the Ruttan Mine in Northern Manitoba.

Although the mine emergency warning system was activated, the stench gas warning was not. The fire destroyed the ventilation, water, electrical and communication systems. Fortunately, two supervisors, who were trained in Mine Rescue, recognized the problem and quickly guided their crews to refuge chambers. Rescuers reached them within 4 1/2 hours but if there had been any delay reaching them due to the fire, their breathable air supply would have been exhausted and this could have been a mining disaster.

RANA's Solution

After this incident, RANA began development of the Refuge One Air Centre for the Manitoba Department of Labour and the Manitoba Mining Association. RANA was  approached by these organizations because of our extensive experience with oxygen delivery systems to develop a system that could:

• Maintain breathable air at near-normal atmospheric levels in a refuge chamber for at least 20 people for 24 hours
• Operate independently during an emergency without external electricity or compressed air
• Be simple and easy to use
• Be durable and rugged enough to withstand harsh underground conditions
• Be an affordable addition to add to the mine’s safety program and budget

RANA stays true to these goals to help save lives. Since 1995, RANA has manufactured the award-winning Refuge One Air Centre and our mobile refuge chamber, the Tommyknocker at our Morden, Manitoba, Canada location.

The Refuge One provides breathable air to both permanent refuge chambers and mobile units, such as our Tommyknocker. We have provided both Refuge One Air Centres and/or the Tommyknocker chambers to mines in Canada, Australia, Chile, Finland, New Guinea and Russia.