About 60 years ago, a fire broke out in a mine in Centralia, Pennsylvania. This town has had many myths over the years, such as residents rumoring that the town was haunted, or the 12-year-old Todd Domboski who fell into a 150-foot-deep sinkhole. The mine underneath Centralia is what defined the town. It was the town’s everything, its resources, its pride. However, this coal mine had a poor way of disposing of resources.
The Fire Sparks
The underground fire started in May of 1962, with smoke appearing from the ground beneath the town. Residents did not know what was happening at first, however, the fire department knew exactly what had happened. When they tried to burn the trash, it spread to the coal in the mine, allowing the fire to spread and rage beneath the town. Two months after the fire started, there was a meeting held to discuss how the fire would be handled. Residents were unaware of the fact that the fire had been started by controlled burning from the government. Instead, they were told the fire’s origin was unknown. Many people came forward to try and handle the mine, but no one was able to succeed.
Fire can cause many significant damages to your body. Despite this, no one in the town actually was damaged by the fire itself. Rather, the residents developed cancer many years later due to smoke inhalation. Luckily, nothing other than that was recorded to be harmful or result in injury. Although no one has died, it’s not recommended to go to the town due to the amount of smoke and harmful gasses that still remain in proximity in the area.
Where did everyone go?
Eventually, the situation got so bad to the point where the government wanted the citizens to relocate. In order to convince them to relocate, the government would offer $17,000 because people would not want to leave the town that their family has lived in all of their life. One Centralia resident says, “The appraiser placed our house of $43,000, but the government offered us $17,000. If we did not accept the offer to move, should they take our neighbor on our other side, they would never come back and give us a second chance. In other words, it was a take it or leave it situation. If we didn’t accept it the first time, we would be stuck there.”
This is what ended up making the town turn into a ghost town. Many residents refused to leave, but many others decided to go. This town is still operational today. Though many solutions have been thought of to fix the fire problem, it was never fully successful and still rages on today. The town has about four or five residents compared to the 1,800 from its prime.
