Fire Down Below
Every coal town in the Commonwealth has taken a hit from the decline of the coal industry, but none have seen a quicker and more drastic demise than Centralia, Pennsylvania.
We are looking north towards the intersection of PA 61, 42, and Big Mine Run Road, once the site of a town the size of about 2,000. Sometime in the 1960s, a fire erupted in the abandoned coal mines below, igniting an enormous coal reserve underneath the city. Over the years, the fire sent toxic gases through the ground, eventually deeming a hazard to the residents of the town, and in 1983, the government forced the residents to relocate.
By 1992, most of the city was razed, leaving behind enormous empty lots and a maze of abandoned streets. Today, the fire has moved out of the city, and nature has taken its course on the ghost town.
Fire Down Below
Every coal town in the Commonwealth has taken a hit from the decline of the coal industry, but none have seen a quicker and more drastic demise than Centralia, Pennsylvania.
We are looking north towards the intersection of PA 61, 42, and Big Mine Run Road, once the site of a town the size of about 2,000. Sometime in the 1960s, a fire erupted in the abandoned coal mines below, igniting an enormous coal reserve underneath the city. Over the years, the fire sent toxic gases through the ground, eventually deeming a hazard to the residents of the town, and in 1983, the government forced the residents to relocate.
By 1992, most of the city was razed, leaving behind enormous empty lots and a maze of abandoned streets. Today, the fire has moved out of the city, and nature has taken its course on the ghost town.