Centralia, Pennsylvania

USA / Pennsylvania / Centralia /
 borough, ghost town, disaster management
Underground mine fire burning for the last 45+ years

Centralia, Pennsylvania was incorporated in 1856 as Centerville. The name was changed to Centralia in 1865 with the arrival of the Post Office. The anthracite coal industry was the primary employer for the area until the 1960s, when most of the coal mines in the area shut down. In 1962, Centralia's population was 1,435. On May 27th, an exposed vein of coal was ignited during a weekly burning at the local landfill, itself located in an abandoned mine pit.


www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjtmaCI9_wM

David DeKok chronicles the events that followed in his book "Unseen Danger": "the fire found its way through a hole in the pit into the vast, black labyrinth of abandoned coal mines that lay beneath Centralia."

The local fire department was unable to control the fire and soon it was beyond their reach. The fire continued to burn for the next two decades, with "repeated state and federal efforts to stop the fire failed either for lack of sufficient funding or political clout." In 1979, according to DeKok, the fire broke through an underground barrier and spread under the town of Centralia itself. Concerns over poisonous gasses and sinkholes divided the town, and in 1984 Congress earmarked $42 million for relocation efforts, helping anyone who wanted to leave.

Contrary to popular belief, the town was not destroyed by the fire itself. Instead, as families accepted the buyout and moved away, their vacant houses were razed. Some families chose not to leave, and nine residences remain standing and are occupied to this day. These families continue to live in town despite the fact that in 1994, the state of Pennsylvania declared emminent domain and condemned all the buildings in the area. Centralia's zip code was revoked by the US Postal Service in 2002.

Only a handful of houses remain today. Many of these houses were once supported on either side by adjacent rowhomes or buildings that have since been razed; they are now supported by rows of chimney-like buttresses. A municipal building remains in use and houses an ambulance.

A feature-length documentary entitled "The Town That Was" has been completed and is awaiting distribution. It focuses on the youngest of the remaining residents, John Lokitis, Jr., and his daily activities. It was recently screened at the Philadelphia Film Festival.

Check out the 5 minute Centralia documentary on google video.

The state government has been stepping up efforts to remove the last few remaining residents from Centralia. John Lokitis and John Comarnisky have been ordered out in 2009. Their houses were demolished shortly after.
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centralia,_Pennsylvania
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   40°48'14"N   76°20'36"W

Comments

  • Have been through Centralia many times. Always an interesting trip.
  • I rode my motorcycle through the abandoned setion of route 61, and stopped in the middle. It was one of the most erie experiences of my lifetime. Because of the way the rerouted route 61 follows a path lower on the hillside, nary a sound can be heard. What you can hear are faint groans and pings, which I presumed to be eminating from the guide rails that were slowly being bent as the road continued to rift. Also, at the northeasterly connection of the original and replacement roads there is a dirt road to the left which I followed for about a half mile, but no further due to my having the willies. I presume this to be a former mine access road.
  • Second photo courtesy of "Vasiliy Meshko" at Wikipedia. (Source) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Pa61_centralia.jpg Second photo courtesy of "Vasiliy Meshko" at Wikipedia. (Source) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:PA_CENTRALIA_NEW.PNG This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 License. In short: you are free to share and make derivative works of the file under the conditions that you appropriately attribute it, and that you distribute it only under a license identical to this one. Official license
  • Thi fifth, sixth, and seventh photos were taken by me during my trip to Centralia on the 9th of December. The fifth photograph shows the subsided section of PA 61. Pictured on the sixth photograph, is the site of Centralia town landfill, where the fire is presumed to have been originated. The seventh photograph shows a panoramic view of Centralia from the subsided "South Hill"
  • Silent Hill
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