From February 7, 1942 to the death of 111 miners on March 25, 1947, Centralia Number 5 was a disaster waiting to happen. So many things could have been done that weren't. Scanlan's first report on February 7, 1942 was a premonition of impending disaster. Scanlan as Inspector should have and could have done more to prevent this tragedy. This article will discuss the four measures Scanlan could have taken to avoid the catastrophe that resulted in so many deaths. The Clock Starts: The Available Choices Life is unpredictable. Many things that happen are beyond man's control. However, Centralia Number 5 was not one of them. This accident was a calamity waiting to happen. There were several points along this disastrous path where someone could have stopped him. One of these people was Driscoll O. Scanlan, mining inspector for the State of Illinois. Scanlan documented deplorable mining conditions and met with union representatives and state officials. However, there was so much more he should have done. Scanlan could have adopted the following four strategies: close the mine until all violations were corrected, follow the chain of command, consistently be an active participant, and seek additional outside assistance. Scanlan had the authority as a state inspector to close the mine; however, for various reasons he did not. Scanlan believed that if he closed the mine, the Department of Mines and Minerals would replace him with an inspector who was more responsible for complaints. According to Hynes & Prasad (1997), Scanlan was a key figure in a fake bureaucracy. Fictional bureaucracies are situations "characterized by blatant violation of workplace safety regulations, which become institutionalized... half of paper... visible reality. Scanlan's restraint in using his powers to close the mine combined with his inconsistency as an active participant led to the deaths of 111 miners. Works CitedCooke, D.L. (2003). Coal Mining Safety. American Academy of Political and Socail Sciences, 123 (1), 93-101 Management Studies, 34 (4), 601-623. Wallace, M. (1987), 336-364. Public administration: concepts and cases: 2010 edition: Houghton Mifflin – Cengage Learning