We lost an entire Pennsylvania community to a coal mine fire 48 years ago. And its still burning

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.offroaders.com/album/centralia/centralia.htm

Centralia Pennsylvania ...truth is stranger than fiction.

A Pennsylvania community consumed by an underground mine fire.

If you were driving north on route 61 in the heart of the Anthracite coal region in Pennsylvania in recent years, you may have come across a detour of 61 at the top of a hill in a community called Ashland. Thinking nothing of it you would have followed the detour signs that took you around some possible road construction or a bridge being worked on. You're then reconnected with Rt. 61 again.

Many have followed this path in recent years with little knowledge of the on going story of this little detour and the town that no longer is really a town. If you had disregarded the detour signs and make the right that 61 north takes through Ashland your first clue that something isn't right would be the abrupt end to route 61 as it once was.

This road closure seems to be more than just a little construction up around the bend. At closer inspection it would seem to be a more permanent close of the road. If you were to look to your right and follow a small, slightly less engineered road down and around the closed route 61 it would re-emerge at the beginning of the story.

The ruins of Centralia Pennsylvania no longer exists on some maps. The story began sometime in 1962 along the outskirts of town when trash was burned in the pit of an abandoned strip mine, which connected to a coal vein running near the surface. The burning trash caught the exposed vein of coal on fire. The fire was thought to be extinguished but it apparently wasn't when it erupted in the pit a few days later. Again the fire was doused with water for hours and thought to be out. But it wasn't. The coal then began to burn underground. That was in 1962. For the next two decades, workers battled the fire, flushing the mines with water and fly ash, excavated the burning material and dug trenches, backfilled, drilling again and again in an attempt to find the boundaries of the fire and plan to put the fire out or at least contain it.

[mrcheerful]

1. Funny I just made a reply post about Love Chanel caused by unregulated dumping of

Toxic chemicals and developers deciding what a great place to build homes on. Nit wits at their best.

[Liberal_in_LA]

2. Saw an updated on the town recently. A few residents refused the buyout

and still live there. Fires still burning because the estimated cost to extinguish is huge.

[underpants]

5. Is this the same town with the vent pipes for the smoke

I think I saw something about that on 20/20 like 15 years ago or so

[Liberal_in_LA]

7. Yes, smoke was coming from the ground. And the ground caves in as the

fire burns the coal up or what ever the heck is burning down there. Just saw the update..can't remember what show it was. A few holdouts still live in their childhood homes. Market value of homes must be negative 1K even though they looked quite nice.

[underpants]

8. See the video below

WOW just WOW

[Liberal_in_LA]

10. yep. That's it. Smoke pouring from the ground, roads caving in. Reminds me of those

fires they'd have our tire recycling plants. Fires they couldn't extinguish

[GreenPartyVoter]

17. Yeah. It's amazing!

[Rex]

3. So if left unchecked, how far will this underground fire go?

So now the fire derives oxygen underground from what? The surrounding deposits?

[realisticphish]

13. it's heading towards another town

i don't know if there is enough oxygen in there, or if it's smoldering more than burning

[Warpy]

4. Coal burns in the absence of air

leaving a substance called coke behind. Coke is used in a lot of industrial process, most notably in steel production.

However, the ground under Centralia is criscrossed with mine tunnels and shafts, so there is likely a good source of oxygen underground. If and when all those old shafts collapse and the coal is deprived of oxygen, those seams will burn themselves out and leave coke behind.

The real problem there is the seepage of toxic gases up through the soil, most notably carbon monoxide. In addition, many sinkholes have been created both by ground subsidence over former pits and by destruction of the coal seams, themselves. That's why all but 12 people wisely moved out.

I've been watching this one since I first read about it in Life Magazine in the early 60s.

[underpants]

6. VIDEO 5:45 This is really odd

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjtmaCI9_wM

[Karenina]

16. Fossil fuels make a mess EVERYWHERE!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkRcKuGBmSg&feature=related

[annabanana]

9. sad miserable chapter in the manhandling of mother earth

[Donnachaidh]

11. IIRC they included this in a segment on "Life After People"

Sad Story. And should be a warning to anyone who thinks fossil fuels are *safe*. Uhh no...

[realisticphish]

12. I've been there

it's pretty damn surreal; the fire is no longer directly under the old town, but it's bizarre seeing the roads and sidewalks with no houses.

The abandoned highway is insane; the buckled asphalt looks like earthquake damage. And it's weird seeing the smoke drifting straight out of the ground.

The kicker is, they've basically given up on fighting it. And the fire is creeping ever closer to the next town...

[Odin2005]

14. Those underground coal fires are surreal.

[supernova]

15. Centralia is the basis for the game Silent Hill

Such a sad fate to have to abandon the town. Perhaps in the future someone will figure out a way to put out the fire.