Post by Robert on Dec 15, 2006 1:17:15 GMT -5
Up to the 60's, areas of Pennsylvania were often popular for coal mining. Even my mom was born in Mt. Carmel, a coal-mining town not far from this topic's title...
Centralia was just another of these coal-miner towns. The mines were everything, and most families would expect sons to follow their fathers into them. However, in 1962, Centralia needed a new landfill for their garbage, and wanted to use an old mine for it. Pennsylvania said it was fine as long as they sealed up the old mine shafts with inflammable material. And, of course, they did... except for one they missed. And, of course, that one they missed was where a fire was started in the trash... it ignited the 15 foot long coal vein. Apparently through a lot of ineptitude, a couple times people would "put out" the fire, only to find it returning in fury. And then the worst happened -- the miles of old mines on which the town was built upon began to catch fire. Miles of trace coal slowly beginning to heat to hundreds of degrees underground. The fire is expected to continue to burn for at least 100 years.
By the 1980's, carbon monoxide gas (quite poisonous in extreme exposure, if you didn't know) began to rise from the ground, and then subsidence -- a condition where collapsing underground mines cause the ground above to sink -- began to occur all over, including one particular case where a 12 year old boy had the ground collapse under his feet four feet. He only managed to survive by grabbing onto exposed tree roots.
After that, the government officially bought out everyone's property, basically giving them cash to abandon their homes, and effectively "closed" the town, save for a few stubborn citizens who refuse to leave even today. Underground temperatures are often found to be up to or even beyond 700 degrees Fahrenheit. Cracks form in what used to be state road PA-61, and from there erupts smoke or even fire. Miles of streets that used to have houses, businesses... all gone, just empty roads to nowhere.
To quote on eerie fact from a summary of a book about the town and its disaster:
More info:
Centralia was just another of these coal-miner towns. The mines were everything, and most families would expect sons to follow their fathers into them. However, in 1962, Centralia needed a new landfill for their garbage, and wanted to use an old mine for it. Pennsylvania said it was fine as long as they sealed up the old mine shafts with inflammable material. And, of course, they did... except for one they missed. And, of course, that one they missed was where a fire was started in the trash... it ignited the 15 foot long coal vein. Apparently through a lot of ineptitude, a couple times people would "put out" the fire, only to find it returning in fury. And then the worst happened -- the miles of old mines on which the town was built upon began to catch fire. Miles of trace coal slowly beginning to heat to hundreds of degrees underground. The fire is expected to continue to burn for at least 100 years.
By the 1980's, carbon monoxide gas (quite poisonous in extreme exposure, if you didn't know) began to rise from the ground, and then subsidence -- a condition where collapsing underground mines cause the ground above to sink -- began to occur all over, including one particular case where a 12 year old boy had the ground collapse under his feet four feet. He only managed to survive by grabbing onto exposed tree roots.
After that, the government officially bought out everyone's property, basically giving them cash to abandon their homes, and effectively "closed" the town, save for a few stubborn citizens who refuse to leave even today. Underground temperatures are often found to be up to or even beyond 700 degrees Fahrenheit. Cracks form in what used to be state road PA-61, and from there erupts smoke or even fire. Miles of streets that used to have houses, businesses... all gone, just empty roads to nowhere.
To quote on eerie fact from a summary of a book about the town and its disaster:
The town, founded in 1866, has often been embroiled in tragedy and controversy. Beginning with the infamous Molly Maguires, Centralia was confronted with the murder of its founder and an assault upon its Catholic priest, who cursed the town, saying, “One day this town will be erased from the face of the earth.” Almost one hundred years later, a vein of coal that ran underneath the town caught fire...
More info:
- Main page on this "Offroaders" website
- A modern visit to the decaying ruins of Centralia
- Other photo collections
