There Is A Burning Ghost Town In Pennsylvania

#1 Town Has Literally Been Burning For Over 50 Years

There is a small town in Pennsylvania that has been burning since 1962. That's over 50 years! What? How is that even possible?

The issue is that Centralia, Pennsylvania is on top of some of the biggest coal deposits in the world. In the 1800s miners blasted tunnels underground and then abandoned them about 100 years later.

#2 Welcome To Centralia Pennsylvania

The small central Pennsylvania town once literally had a ground full of potential, but it was destroyed by the substance that made it prosper: its coal veins. Centralia, in Eastern PA, was founded in 1866 as a coal mining town, booming with saloons, hotels, and miners getting rich through the area's burgeoning industry.

#3 It Started As A Dump Fire

It all began with a Memorial Day dump fire in 1962. It was supposed to burn out on its own, as most dump fires do, but this one crawled underground and into an open coal seam. Firefighters tried to put it out, but eventually gave up due to lack of funding and because the underground fire didn't seem like an emergency to the townspeople. By 1970 the town and the state had tried numerous ways to extinguish the fire underground but gave up without making any headway.

#4 The Fire Spread Above And Below Ground

The fire soon spread into the network of mines that lay under people's homes and businesses. Eventually, poisonous gas from the fire threatened the town's air quality, and a massive sinkhole opened up, nearly swallowing a 12-year-old boy in 1981. Coal burns slow and steady and can take ages to burn out. As long as there is enough heat, fuel, and oxygen to keep it going, there's nothing you can do.

#5 The Mine Tunnels Are Like Flame Torches

Since sometimes coal deposits are under a lot of pressure, it can even ignite without a flame. The oxygen from the empty tunnels created the perfect conditions for the fire to spread. The flames started going deeper and deeper into the surrounding area as more coal burned, and the tunnels continue to take oxygen down from the surface. It is now in a vicious, fiery cycle that is now about 300 feet deep and spreading.

#6 People Are Relocated By The Government

Several attempts to put the fire out through the years ended with no luck and the local residents became worried about the water and air in the community. Starting in 1983, more than 1,000 of the town's 1,500 residents moved away with assistance from a $42 million federal relocation program. In 1985 the government and the town told area residents and those who had left, that the town would be rebuilt after a 500-foot trench that would contain the fire was completed. But that trench never materialized and everyone in the 10-mile radius of the town was finally forced to relocate by the Federal Government.

#7 The Town Inspired The Movie 'Silent Hill'

The state government then claimed the town in 1992 using eminent domain. Roughly 500 buildings were demolished, leaving the town looking like a scene out of the 2006 horror film Silent Hill (which was, in fact, partially inspired by Centralia). There were a few holdouts, however, as dozens of long-time residents refused to evacuate. They sued to stay and ended up signing contracts with the state that allowed them to remain on their property until their deaths, after which their homes would be destroyed. But the final nail in the coffin for Centralia was in 2002 when the United States Postal Office revoked the town's zip code.

#8 The Fire Grows 75 Feet Or More Each Year

The fire covers 6 square miles and spreads over 75 feet every year. Smoke still billows from the ground daily. The carbon gases have killed off much of Centralia's vegetation though it looks lush and green, it is filled with toxic chemicals and residue.

#9 A Ghost Town With No Highway In Or Out

Today, visitors are warned from going to Centralia, but that has not deterred some tourists. The four lanes of Route 61 that cut through Centralia were shut down in the late 1990s. Now the highway, though littered with gaping holes, is covered in colorful graffiti left behind by visitors who claim the area is haunted or that it is a UFO landing site.

Today, only 11 residents still live there. They say that the still-burning coal fire is no longer a threat to the town or its air quality, but most disa

#10 It Could Burn For Another 250 Years

While this might seem like a freak accident, these types of fires are actually pretty common. There are mine fires burning in Wyoming, Australia, Germany, and many other parts of the world. India and China have the most serious problems with hundreds of abandoned mines all over the country.

Coal mine fires can burn for many centuries and it is estimated that the Centralia fire could burn for another 250 to 300 years!