CENTRALIA COAL MINE FIRE NOW IN ITS 47th YEAR

THE 'SMOKINEST' GHOST TOWN IN AMERICA IS ONE OF THOUSANDS OF COAL SEAM FIRES BURNING OUT OF CONTROL AROUND THE WORLD

No one lives in the little town of Centralia PA, located on route 61 in western PA. Route 61 detours around the site, and Centralia no longer appears on some maps. Like Times Beach MO, Love Canal, NY and Anniston, AL (among others), Centralia is a victim of our industrialized civilization, aother town where the people who once lived there no longer to. But it isn't the owners of the coal companies and the Chemical companies who pay for the damage. In the case of Centralia, the town was evacuated as an underground coal seam fire burned out of control.

The underground inferno started in 1962 when a trash fire was lit in an abandoned mine pit in this antracite coal country mining town Centralia. The fire ignited an exposed vein of coal and spread throughout the mines beneath the borough. Several attempts have been made and millions of dollars have been spent unsuccessfully to extinguish this fire, which continues to burn today.

a sunny day in Centralia PA

A sunny day in lovely Centralia, PA

USE 'TA BE A NICE TOWN:

Time Beach, MO

Love Canal, NY

Anniston, AL

Libby, Montana

On May 22, 1969 the first three families were moved from Centralia. A trench was dug north of the Odd Fellows Cemetery where fly ash and clay seals were used in an attempt to put out the fire. This was the first of a series of half-assed efforts to contain the fire, as the government waffled and wasted more money on unfunded efforts.

The Centralia fire is one of hundreds of of coal seam fires burning in Pennsylvania, and thousands burning around the world. While burning coal in natural deposits can happen spontaneously, the overwhelming number of fires are in abandoned coal mines. The amount of CO2 generated by these fires is 2 -3 % of the total traceable to fossil fuels. Of course, these fires release the same poisons described in Section 2.

USE 'TA BE A NICE TOWN:

Time Beach, MO

Love Canal, NY

Anniston, AL

Libby, Montana

By the early 1980s the fire had affected 200 acres and homes were abandoned as carbon monoxide levels increased. Government official continued to delay meaningful action and by 1983, there was fire under about 350 surface acres. Fire, smoke, fumes and toxic gases invaded the homes and yards of Centralia and rendered the town uninhabitable. Eventually, most of the homes were condemned and residents were relocated with grants from the federal government. There are just a few scattered homes today remaining in the town along with the borough hall, all owned by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Some experts predict a worst case scenario that ultimately consumes over the course of a hundred years.