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This US town has been abandoned for almost 60 years because of an underground fire that continues to burn
This US town has been abandoned for almost 60 years because of an underground fire that continues to burn
Sinéad Baker,Sinéad Baker,Sinéad BakerSep 5, 2019, 20:19 IST
Smoke rises from a crack in the road in Centralia Pennsylvania in 2010.DON EMMERT/AFP/Getty Images
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An underground coal fire has raged for 57 years in Centralia, Pennsylvania, turning a bustling mining town into something of a ghost town.
Residents lived with noxious fumes and dangerous sink holes, and the government eventually bought people's homes and relocated them after failing to put out the fire.
But some residents fought for decades to stay, arguing that this was their home, and that the government wanted the town's coal.
They were ultimately victorious, and they live in the few remaining buildings where the government took away the zip code and tourists provide deep frustration.
Almost 60 years a century ago, Centralia, Pennsylvania was a bustling coal mining town home to more than 1,000 people.
Today, the once-thriving community is a smoldering expanse of overgrown streets, cracked pavement, and charred trees where streams of toxic gas spew into the air from hundreds of fissures in the ground.
A fire in 1962 spread from a landfill to the labyrinth of coal mines beneath the town, essentially creating a giant underground inferno that still rages, virtually invisible from the surface.
The US government ultimately decided to buy up the homes of people living in the town and relocate its residents, but a handful resisted, leading to a decades-long battle to stay in the town and their homes,
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They were ultimately able to stay, even though officials say the fire could burn for at least another 100 years. In a 2006 interview, the then-mayor of the town, aged 90, said: "This is the only home I've ever owned, and I want to keep it."
This is what happened in Centralia and what it looks like today.
Centralia is a borough in the northeastern mountains of Pennsylvania. In 2002, the U.S. Postal Service revoked the town's ZIP code, 17927, causing problems for the few people that still lived there.
The son of one remaining resident told Cracked in 2017 that those who stayed in the town have to have post boxes in other towns, and struggle to even get food delivered to an area with no ZIP code.
A satellite view of the town shows that there are now almost no buildings left.
The once-bustling community has become a ghost town. This picture shows Locust Avenue, the town's main street, in October 1983 compared to in June 2000.
Smoke still rises up through cracks in the roads now, 57 years after the fire started. Officials say it could burn for at least another 100 years.
Sinkhole and piles of ash that look like even ground can cause injury and cause animals to get stuck and die, the son of a former resident said. One child even fell into a hole in 1981, and was lucky to survive.
Now, near the highway, signs warns of dangers in the area.
And the branch of Route 61 that runs through the town was permanently closed when it became too expensive to repair. The road was diverted around the town instead.
But some residents have fought long and hard to stay in the town.
In a 2006 interview, 90-year-old Lamar Mervine, then the mayor of the town, spoke of how he and his wife wanted to stay in the town, even as the state wanted to take the property.
"I remember when the state came and said they wanted our house," he said. "She took one look at that man and said, 'They're not getting it.'"
"This is the only home I've ever owned, and I want to keep it," he said.
Some residents spent the next few decades fighting to keep their homes, even though they had officially been seized by authorities.
A handful filed a federal lawsuit, and said their part of the town was safe, accusing the government of wanting the town's coal.
In 2013, the remaining residents won the right to stay in the town until they die. A settlement gave them ownership of their properties until their deaths — and included a $349,500 payout.
"They bent us, but they didn't break us," one resident then said.
John Comarnisky, then a 53-year-old school teacher, told Reuters in 2008: "People have called it a ghost town, but I look at it as a town that’s now full of trees instead of people. And truth is, I’d rather have trees than people."
The town has become a tourist attraction, much to the frustration of remaining residents, and the roads are covered in graffiti. The town also inspired the 2006 horror film 'Silent Hill.'
One of the town's remaining residents, told Cracked in 2017 that tourists cause a lot of frustration for those who stayed behind.
"They'll walk on lawns and property freely, thinking it's abandoned. They'll always be asking, 'Why do you live here?' They dump trash everywhere ... The worst are the tourists who leave graffiti."
He said they even harm residents' property.
"They chipped at my house. For a souvenir, like they wanted a piece of the Lord's cross. Chip chip chip, and they took a part of my stairs. Then they wrote 'Let it burn' on it. Why would they do that?"
In 2014, current and former residents opened a time capsule that was supposed to be opened in 2016. Buried in 1966, organizers were worried about water damage, and much of what was inside was destroyed.
Lots of books, photos, and documents were inside.
One former resident said it "held great meaning to those Centralians still alive."
"Many were looking forward to its opening in 2016. It was to be a reunion of sorts."
