When a final count was made, 259 men and boys were killed in the mine fire. As a consequence, the USA reinforced many mining laws and regulations. The United Mine Workers Union gained hundreds of new members. In Illinois, the disaster led to the passage of the Illinois Workmen's Compensation Act. It also became a main reason for changes in the child labor laws in the United States. It was one of the mine disasters that caused the formation of the United States Bureau of Mines in 1910.