An Unstoppable Inferno
On May 27, 1962, firefighters in Centralia, Pennsylvania, ignited a fire in the town landfill to reduce waste, a common practice at the time. The landfill, however, was located in an abandoned strip mine pit with an unsealed opening. This allowed the flames to reach the Buck Mountain anthracite coal seam below, igniting a subterranean fire that has burned for more than six decades later.
The fire spreads through a labyrinth of abandoned mine tunnels that underlie an area of about 3,700 acres. It moves at a rate of up to 75 feet per year, fueled by one of the largest deposits of anthracite coal in the world. The fire burns at depths of up to 300 feet (90 meters), making any attempt to extinguish it nearly impossible. Temperatures inside the fire can exceed 1,000°F (540°C), with some borehole measurements recording temperatures as high as 1,350°F (732°C). This intense heat bakes the ground above, killing vegetation and creating a barren area.
A Town Erased by Fire
In the years following the fire's ignition, life in Centralia grew increasingly hazardous. The ground began to subside, creating dangerous sinkholes and fissures that vented poisonous gases. The atmosphere became tainted with lethal levels of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and sulfur dioxide. In 1979, a gas station owner discovered the gasoline in his underground tanks had been heated to 172°F (78°C).
The event that brought national attention occurred in 1981, when 12-year-old Todd Domboski fell into a sinkhole that suddenly opened in his backyard. The hole was 150 feet deep and billowed with toxic steam. Domboski survived by clinging to a tree root until his cousin rescued him. This incident showed the extreme danger to residents. In 1983, the U.S. Congress allocated over $42 million for a relocation program. The population, which was over 1,000 in 1980, dwindled to just five by 2020.
Most of the town's 500-plus buildings were demolished, and its ZIP code was discontinued in 2002. A famous casualty was a 0.74-mile stretch of Route 61, which buckled and cracked from the heat, becoming known as the "Graffiti Highway." This unofficial landmark was covered with dirt in 2020 to discourage visitors. With enough anthracite to fuel it for another 250 years, the Centralia mine fire slowly consumes the ground beneath the ghost town.