Uploaded September 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Centralia, Pennsylvania, has been burning from below for more than six decades.
In 1962, a fire spread from a trash-burning operation into abandoned coal workings beneath the town. Efforts to extinguish it continued for years, but the fire persisted underground.
As the fire spread, Centralia faced subsidence, hazardous gases, damaged roads, and growing safety concerns. Over time, most residents left, hundreds of properties were acquired and demolished, and the town that once had more than 1,000 residents was reduced to only a handful of people.
Today, the Centralia Mine Fire is still burning underground.
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Centralia, Pennsylvania, has been burning from below for more than six decades.
In 1962, a fire spread from a trash-burning operation into abandoned coal workings beneath the town. Efforts to extinguish it continued for years, but the fire persisted underground.
As the fire spread, Centralia faced subsidence, hazardous gases, damaged roads, and growing safety concerns. Over time, most residents left, hundreds of properties were acquired and demolished, and the town that once had more than 1,000 residents was reduced to only a handful of people.
Today, the Centralia Mine Fire is still burning underground.
Love what we're doing here? Support unbiased journalism by becoming a Straight Arrow subscriber: straightarrowne.ws/subscribe
