 All this month at Appalachian Wireless, get the only truly water-resistant Android smartphone the Samsung Galaxy S7 for just $99.99 and get a second one free while supplies last. Service agreement is required. Better service? Bigger savings? That's today's Appalachian Wireless. Twelve teams suited up for a mine safety competition in Pikeville this week. For three days, miners from four states were given different mine emergency scenarios to work through. These fields are a simulation of an actual coal mine. They're set up with entries with certain problems along the way. They, as the team advances, and as you can see they have apparatus on so they are actually under oxygen. They're not breathing any of the external atmosphere. They come across placards that tells them water, roof fall, methane, explosive mixtures and they have to solve these problems. It's required for every coal mine in the United States to have a mine rescue team, whether it be men already at the company or third party. To comply with the Mine Safety and Health Administration, each safety team must compete in a mine safety competition annually. It's a pretty intense competition. These guys are special people that do it and they're very highly skilled and these competitions keep them ready to respond. Due to the struggling economy, the competition had a 35 to 40 percent decline in participation. As the industry declines, the participation in mine rescue, the affordability for coal companies to furnish a mine rescue team has been a lot more pressure on them. That's why we're so pleased we got the multi-state interaction here. Alabama, Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky were the participating states. The competition concluded Thursday afternoon. Reporting in Pikeville for EKB News, I'm Shelby Steele.