The Centralia Mine Fires of Pennsylvania: Burning Underground Since 1962
Now it’s just a ghost town
I came upon this story and found it so enthralling that I had to research more about it and pen an article.
According to Wikipedia, the Centralia mine fire is a coal-seam fire that has been burning in the labyrinth of abandoned coal mines underneath the borough of Centralia, Pennsylvania, United States, since at least May 27, 1962.
It is burning in underground coal mines at depths of up to 300 ft (90 m) over an 8 mi (13 km) stretch of 3,700 acres (15 km2).
Reports say this all began on the weekend of the Memorial Day Parade in May of 1962. The town officials did not know what to do with the trash build-up and decided to burn it in the town’s landfill.
The fire began as a controlled burn under the watchful eyes of the town’s fire chief. At the conclusion of the burn, the embers were doused in water, and they thought all was well.
A few days later fire was noticed, once again the embers were overturned and doused.
