The accident had a profound effect on the town of
Hillcrest Mines, which in 1914 had a population of about 1,000. A total of 189 workers died, about half of the mine's total workforce, which left 90 women widowed and about 250 children fatherless. Many of the victims were buried in a mass grave at the Hillcrest Cemetery. The Government of Alberta held an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the explosion in 1915. Condolences came from across the country, including a brief message from
King George V, but the commencement of
World War I soon overshadowed this event. Of the 189 victims of the disaster, many were immigrants, including 43 from the
Austro-Hungarian Empire, of whom an estimated 30 were Ukrainian by ethnic origin, including 6 from one village, Karliv (now Prutivka), Galicia. Operations at Hillcrest mine continued until Hillcrest Collieries, the mine owners, went into liquidation in April 1938, and the mine was officially closed on December 2, 1939. A monument to the Hillcrest mine disaster and the lives lost was placed at the Hillcrest Cemetery. In 1990, Canadian folk-singer
James Keelaghan recorded "Hillcrest Mine", one of his best-known songs. The disaster is also featured in the song "Coal Miner" (album
Heads Is East, Tails Is West, 2014) by Joal Kamps, an Alberta-based Rocky Mountain folk-pop singer. ==Other area mining accidents==