The Town That Burned for 50 Years

The Town That Burned for 50 Years

Imagine a town where the ground beneath your feet constantly smolders, where cracks in the earth vent noxious gases, and where the threat of sudden collapse is ever-present. This isn't a scene from a dystopian movie; it's the very real story of Centralia, Pennsylvania, a town grappling with an underground coal fire that has been burning for over five decades. But how did this happen, and what does it mean for the residents, past and present?

Centralia, Pennsylvania (ASTER) by NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Space Systems, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team, licensed under Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The story begins in May 1962. The precise origin of the Centralia mine fire is debated, with several theories circulating. The most widely accepted explanation involves a controlled burn gone awry. Centralia's borough council hired five members of the volunteer fire company to clean up the town's landfill, located in an abandoned strip mine pit. The firefighters were instructed to burn the trash. It's believed that the fire wasn't fully extinguished and spread through a hole in the rock pit into the labyrinth of abandoned coal mines beneath Centralia. However, some residents argue that the fire may have started earlier, perhaps even unintentionally ignited by illegal dumping or a pre-existing mine fire that was simply exacerbated by the landfill burn. Regardless of the precise spark, the consequences would be devastating.

Initially, residents didn't realize the magnitude of the problem. Strange smells and occasional puffs of smoke were dismissed as typical for a region steeped in anthracite coal mining. However, as time passed, the symptoms worsened. The ground grew hotter, sinkholes began to appear, and carbon monoxide levels in homes reached dangerous levels. The severity of the situation became undeniably clear when, in 1981, a 12-year-old boy named Todd Domboski nearly fell into a sinkhole that suddenly opened up in his backyard. He was saved by his cousin, but the incident served as a wake-up call. This event propelled Centralia's plight into the national spotlight.

The fire continues to burn in the Buck Mountain coal seam, a vast network of tunnels and coal deposits beneath the town. Efforts to extinguish it have proven largely unsuccessful. Various methods have been attempted, including digging trenches to create firebreaks, flooding sections of the mine with water, and injecting incombustible material into the mine shafts. However, the sheer scale and complexity of the underground network, combined with the intense heat and lack of oxygen, make extinguishing the fire an almost impossible task.

Over time, the relentless fire has taken its toll on Centralia. The population dwindled from over 1,000 residents in 1980 to just a handful today. Most of the buildings have been demolished, leaving behind empty streets and overgrown lots. The remaining residents, fiercely independent and deeply attached to their homes, have refused to leave, despite the persistent dangers and the overwhelming odds. They reached an agreement with the state in 1992, allowing them to remain in their homes until their deaths, at which point the state would claim the properties.

Centralia stands as a stark reminder of the environmental consequences of industrial practices and the enduring power of human resilience. It's a cautionary tale about the dangers of underground fires and the challenges of mitigating their impact. The story of Centralia also highlights the complex relationship between humans and the environment, and the sometimes-unforeseen consequences of our actions.

Centralia Pennsylvania mine fire causes and effects

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