The hot, smoky air inside the mine became so hard for the men to breathe that they fell to the ground, unconscious. Finally, the fire roared past, and most of the men had survived. After the survivors woke up, they made their way toward the light at the mine entrance. There they discovered Pulaski on the ground, his unmoving body covered with ashes. One of the men said that the boss was dead, but then a voice from the ashes told the man he was wrong. Ed Pulaski was very much alive.