Centralia: America’s Burning Town
The American town was once a thriving coal mining town- and the black gold that put it on the map has reclaimed the area
Ghost towns always prick up interest and intrigue, with a usual barrage of questions surrounding each. In 2024 it feels as though there aren’t too many around, but they can still be found if you keep a keen eye open.
Pennsylvania, USA was once the beating heart of the American coal mining industry. Towns across the state popped up around coalfields, and these communities grew. By the early 1960s, however, things would change in one town in the northwest of the state forever- and a thriving population would go its separate ways.
The vast labyrinth of underground mine shafts helped to make Centralia into a prosperous mining town, but it would have a hand in the town being overwhelmed by a fiery twist of fate. In 1962 the council set a dump in the town on fire, which was a regular occurrence in clearing space.
However, on May 27 they started a fire that still hasn’t stopped. The council was responsible for installing a fire-resistant clay blockade to separate the layers of the dump. However, according to accounts documented in the book ‘The Day The Earth Caved In’, the council fell behind schedule and this left the barrier incomplete.
The fire entered into the mines via an opening, and it spread around the vast quantity of coal that ran underneath the town. By the time of this, many of the coal mining companies in the area had been shut down and the industry’s time in this corner of Pennsylvania was over.
The theories as to how the fire started were varied, with one story dating back to the 1930s and a colliery fire that spread to the rubbish dump. It wasn’t until the late 1970s that the town was made fully aware of the extent of the fire when a local fuel station owner checked the level of fuel in the tanks- only to find the temperature to be over 77C.
Into the new decade, and the debate over just how dangerous the Centralia fire was raged on. A chilling development saw two cemeteries fall underground as sinkholes opened up under the town, leading people to conclude that in Centralia, even the dead can’t rest in peace.
People’s basements started to fill with poison gases and homes began to tilt towards the gaping holes in the ground. A 12-year-old boy fell into one of these sinkholes, barely escaping with his life. Centralia was given national attention and action was planned, but by the 1990s the state of Pennsylvania made the ultimate move.
Congress decided to buy out the residents and pay them to move away from Centralia. Every building in the town was condemned, and only a handful of residents remained through a court order action. The ZIP code of Centralia was eliminated, and the remaining residents could not sell or pass down their property.
All the while, the fire burned in the coal mines under Centralia. Experts believe the fire will continue to burn for over a century without intervention. If this is the case, then the fires will end up burning for longer than the town was actively mining coal.
The road that leads to Centralia has become a graffiti highway, and it is now blocked off preventing people from reaching the town whether this was on purpose or not. This is a colourful yet haunting glimpse into one of the strangest stories in American history.
The bizarre and eerie story of Centralia has been marked in popular culture. Fans of the horror film franchise Silent Hill may or may not know that the town is based on the fiery, abandoned town that sits almost empty in Pennsylvania. One can only hope that Centralia doesn’t have the same vast amount of creatures living amongst the smoke-filled remains of a once bustling coal mining town.
