Centralia, PA has been on fire for over 50 years. It's one of those "crazy but true" stories. Centralia may not visibly be ablaze, but underneath the Earth's surface, the small town has been burning since 1962. Centralia used to be a buzzing town — but today, its population is less than ten.
With rampant sinkholes, toxic fumes, and a ruthless fire burning under the surface, this is no place to live. Yet there are residents who fought for decades to keep their homes within the hazardous town. Hey, there's no place like home, right? Even if that home is a deathtrap?
So how does a fire begin underground? It starts with one tiny mistake and snowballs into a half-century-long reign of subterranean terror that leaves the town burning to this day. Even stranger? It doesn't even appear as though anyone is trying to stop the fire. Creepy…
Centralia, Pennsylvania is practically a ghost town.
Its population has dwindled from 1,000 in 1981 to a mere eight in 2013.
The city has been on fire since 1962.
Yes, that fire is still going. The thing is: It's underground.
In 1962, a coal mine caught fire beneath the town.
The fire still burns today, though the exact cause remains unknown.
On May 27, 1962, firefighters began their annual cleaning of the city landfill.
The firefighters began a routine burning of the dump. But the fire was never fully extinguished.
Check out these other photos as proof!
An unsealed opening caused the fire to spread into the maze of underground coal mines.
As the fire carried on underground, the residents of Centralia carried on with their lives…until 1979.
The fire even spread to the nearby town of Byrnesville.
The town of Byrnesville is now similarly abandoned, although the effects were less grave due to its smaller population.
In 1979, Mayor John Coddington stuck a thermometer underground. The temperature was through the roof!
Mayor Coddington tied a thermometer to a string and lowered it underground. He was shocked to find that the subterranean was 172 degrees. After nearly a decade of the continued fire, Centralia residents finally became alarmed about the coal mine fire. And yet, they carried on as usual.
In 1981, the fire became a real concern when a 12-year-old boy fell in a sinkhole.
Twelve-year-old Todd Domboski fell into a 150-foot-deep sinkhole that suddenly opened up in his backyard. Miraculously, he was rescued by an older cousin who pulled him out. But the sinkhole was discovered to be emitting lethal levels of carbon monoxide.
What did the people do about it though?
Despite the near tragedy, many Centralia residents believed the fire posed no immediate danger.
There were no less than six community organizations debating the various spectrum of danger in Centralia.
Finally, in 1984, U.S. Congress allocated $42 million in relocation funds for residents.
While most families accepted the buyouts, many refused to leave.
In 1992, Pennsylvania Governor Bob Casey invoked eminent domain.
Though residents fought to legally reverse the decision, they failed. All property in Centralia was officially condemned.
In 2002, the U.S. Postal Service stripped Centralia of its 17927 ZIP code.
Despite efforts to evict all residents, a handful still remain.
How many were left?
In 2013, the eight remaining residents finally settled their lawsuit with the city.
After a twenty year legal battle, the eight residents received a payout of $349,500 and permission to live in Centralia for as long as they like.
The city is believed to be the inspiration for the video game Silent Hill.
It has also inspired the works of authors like Dean Koontz's Strange Highways and David Wellington's Vampire Zero.
Today, Centralia has become a tourist attraction.
Visitors often vandalize the Centralia streets with chalk drawings and graffiti.
...Though visitors should enter Centralia with caution.
The city is still on fire. The ground is still prone to collapse. The streets still emit lethal amounts of toxic gasses and carbon monoxide. In over 50 years, the city of Centralia is still burning and little has changed.
