Sometimes Interesting

Centralia is a now-unlivable township in Pennsylvania that was incorporated as a borough in 1866 with the anthracite coal industry being the principal employer in the community.  Coal mining continued in Centralia until the 1960s, when the last of the coal companies finally closed its doors; however bootleg mining continued until 1982.  For decades an undetected underground mine fire slowly burned through a major coal deposit vein. By the mid-1980′s the Pennsylvania state government realized the severity of the issue, and by 1992 it had ordered the forceful permanent evacuation of residents. 

It is not known for certain how the fire that made Centralia essentially unlivable was ignited.  One theory asserts that in May 1962, the Centralia Borough Council hired five members of the volunteer fire company to clean up the town landfill, located in an abandoned strip-mine pit next to the Odd Fellows Cemetery.  This had been done prior to Memorial Day in previous years when the landfill was in a different location.  The firefighters, as they had in the past, set the dump on fire and let it burn for a time. Unlike in previous years, however, the fire was not extinguished correctly.

Other evidence supports this theory, as stated in Joan Quigley’s 2007 missive, such as the fact that one of two trash haulers (Curly Stasulevich or Sam Devine) dumped hot ash and/or coal discarded from coal burners into the open trash pit. The borough, by law, was responsible for installing a fire-resistant clay barrier between each layer, but fell behind schedule, leaving the barrier partly incomplete. This allowed the hot coals to penetrate the vein of coal underneath the pit and light the subsequent subterranean fire. Quigley cites “interviews with volunteer firemen, the former fire chief, borough officials, and several eyewitnesses, as well as contemporaneous borough council minutes” as her sources for this explanation of the fire.

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The fire remained burning underground and spread through a hole in the rock pit into the abandoned coal mines beneath Centralia. Attempts to extinguish the fire were unsuccessful, and it continued to burn throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Adverse health effects were reported by several people due to the byproducts of the fire, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and a lack of healthy oxygen levels.

In 1979, locals became aware of the scale of the problem when a gas-station owner and then mayor, John Coddington, inserted a stick into one of his underground tanks to check the fuel level. When he withdrew it, it seemed hot, so he lowered a thermometer down on a string and was shocked to discover that the temperature of the gasoline in the tank was 172 °F (77.8 °C). Statewide attention to the fire began to increase, culminating in 1981 when 12-year-old resident Todd Domboski almost fell into a sinkhole four feet wide by 150 feet deep (46 m) that suddenly opened beneath his feet in a backyard.

In 1984, the U.S. Congress allocated more than $42 million for relocation efforts. Most of the residents accepted buyout offers and moved to the nearby communities of Mount Carmel and Ashland. A few families opted to stay despite warnings from Pennsylvania officials. In 1992, Pennsylvania claimed eminent domain on all properties in the borough, condemning all the buildings within. A subsequent legal effort by residents to have the decision reversed failed. In 2002, the U.S. Postal Service revoked Centralia’s ZIP code, 17927.

Very few homes remain standing in Centralia; most of the abandoned buildings have been demolished by humans or nature. At a casual glance, the area now appears to be a field with many paved streets running through it. Some areas are being filled with new-growth forest. Most of Centralia’s roads and sidewalks are overgrown with brush, although some areas appear to be mowed. In 2010, only five homes remained as state officials tried to vacate the residents and demolish what was left of the town. It is expected that many former residents will return in 2016 to open a time capsule buried in 1966 next to the veterans’ memorial.

Despite all this, a few local residents refuse to leave and about 10 or so call Centralia home, according to the latest census.  Centralia’s population has dwindled from over 1,000 residents in 1981 to 12 in 2005 and 9 in 2007.  Today, the underground fire is still burning and is predicted to continue for 250 more years.

Map & Satellite image: click here