Centralia, Pa
By law, the borough was responsible for installing a
fire-resistant clay barrier between each layer but had fallen
behind schedule, leaving the barrier partly incomplete. This
possibly allowed hot coals to penetrate the vein of coal
underneath the pit and light the subsequent subterranean fire
when one, or two, trash haulers dumped hot ash, or coal, into
the open trash pit

One other theory of how the fire started is known as the Bast
Theory.  It says that the fire was actually burning long before the
alleged trash dump fire.  However, because of overwhelmingly
contrary evidence, few people give this theory much credibility.


However it got started, the fire continued to burn underground
and eventually spread through a hole in the rock pit and got into
the abandoned coal mines beneath Centralia.  Many attempts
were made to extinguish the fire, but all were unsuccessful.  It
continued to burn throughout the 1960s and into the 1970s.

Eventually, in 1984, Congress allocated over $42 million for
relocation efforts for the townspeople.  The vast majority of the
residents accepted buyout offers and moved nearby to the  
communities of Ashland and Mount Carmel.  However, a few
families declined to move and they stayed despite warnings from
Pennsylvania officials that it wasn't safe.

The smoke and steam from the underground fire can still be
seen coming from an abandoned portion of PA Route 61 - the
area just behind the hilltop cemeteries.  There are open cracks
in the ground all over this area.  However, the ground around
the openings is very unstable and you do NOT want to get to
close to the opening.
Wow, he must be really old by now
There's Bryan!
Odd Fellows Cemetery...yes that is
actually it's name
SS Peter & Paul cemetery in Centralia
Remains of concrete stairs leading up
to where a house once stood
Here's one of the few remaining houses
Hard to believe that there use to be
homes and businesses all over
Down in the lower part of Centralia
A road to nowhere
More steam from the underground fires
This area has several places where
steam comes up out of the ground
One of the former roads
A view of the lower streets of
Centralia, Pa
Some roads were removed and only
gravel remains
A view showing the old and new
alignments of Pennsylvania Route 61
near Centralia, and a good picture of
the clearing that was once Byrnesville.
Photo is from April 8, 1999.

This is a USGS aerial photo, so it is in the
public domain. It is hosted at
Terraserver-USA.com.
1999 USGS Map
Centralia map from
before mine fire
Centralia map from
after mine fire
You don't run into to many ghost towns anymore.  But, that is
exactly what Centralia is.  A former borough located in Columbia
County, Pennsylvania.  Once its population was over 1,000 people
back in the early 1980's, but as of 2007 there are only 9 left.  No,
they didn't just disappear, but they left as a result of the ongoing
mine fire that burns beneath it since 1962.  Understandably
so,Centralia is now the lowest populated municipality in the state
of  Pennsylvania.

In 1992 all of the properties in the borough were claimed by the
state under eminent domain.  All of the buildings were then
condemned and eventually demolished.  In 2002 the U.S.
Government even revoked Centralia's zip code; 17927.  Even with
all of that, a few of the residents continue to stay there, and in
defiance of a failed lawsuit that was filed to reverse the eminent
domain claim on Centralia.

As mentioned before, there are very few homes remaining in
Centralia.  The abandoned buildings that were not demolished by
people have been so by nature.  When you now see what was
once Centralia the area appears to be a field with several paved
streets running throughout it. Even some places where building
once stood are being taken over with new-growth forest.  Almost
all of the roads and sidewalks are overgrown with grass and
brush.  The one remaining church in the borough, St. Mary's, still
holds services on Sunday.  It has been unaffected by the
underground fire.  Centralia's four cemeteries, including the one
on the hilltop that has smoke rising out of the ground in and
around it, have all been maintained and in good condition.  
Ironically, they now have a far greater population than the town
itself has.

No one knowns for certain how the fire that made Centralia
essentially unlivable was started. One theory claims that in May
1962, the Centralia Borough Council hired five members of the
local volunteer fire department to clean up the town's landfill.
Which was located in an abandoned strip-mine pit next to Odd
Fellows Cemetery.  This had been done in prior years, when the
landfill was at a different location.  As they had before, the
selected firefighters set the dump on fire and let it burn.  
However, unlike in those previous years, the fire was not
extinguished properly.
- In the 2006 horror film Silent Hill, the town of Silent Hill was abandoned because of a continuous mine fire.  The movie's
 writer Roger Avary, has stated was inspired by the Centralia underground mine fires.

- Centralia was featured an episode of the History Channel's Modern Marvels: "Engineering Disasters #7".

- It was featured in an episode of Life After People, a series on the History Channel.  Centralia was shown as an
 example of a town twenty five years after humans.

- The final scenes in David Wellington's novel Vampire Zero take place in Centralia.

- Centralia is referenced in season two,episode 19 of HBO's In Treatment.
Centralia in Pop Culture
We had been wanting to make a visit to Centralia for several years.  So, when we were asked to do a
presentation at a library in Pocono Pines, Pa, we decided to make a stop in Centralia and stay for the night.  
We never came across any substantial information regarding any haunting or paranormal activity here, but
there were a few tid bits here and there scattered on the web.   Tom and Bryan arrived there late afternoon
in October 2008.  With the previous we've done, they knew exactly where they were going and what to
expect.

Our first stop was the hillside right by St. Ignatius & SS Peter & Paul cemeteries.  This is the area where can
you still see the smoke & steam coming out of the ground, in several spots, from the continuing fires.  Old
PA Route 61 use to run right through this spot, and was repaired multiple times before it finally had to be
closed because of the fires.  Originally the current route was just a detour around the unstable portion, but
it eventually became the permanent route in the mid 1990's.   There were large mounds of dirt placed at
each end of old Route 61, to prevent any vehicles from venturing in.  There is a good place to park just
belong St. Ignatius Cemetery where you can walk up to the hillside.  Again, just be cautious of the steam &
smoke openings!

Shortly before sunset Tom and Bryan made their way down to the lower streets between Route 61 and Park
Street.  It was an odd feeling to walk along those old streets.  A few remnants of formers cement steps line
one of the streets, however they just lead up to a small grassy field now.  About a half dozen buildings still
stand in this area.  A couple of the homes are even still occupied.  We made all attempts to steer clear of
them out of respect.  Even with those, it really did feel like a "ghost town".

After spending quite a bit of time here, Tom and Bryan moved over to Odd Fellows Cemetery.  A rather odd
name for a cemetery....no pun intended.   We did not spend a lot of time here, after all, it is just a cemetery
and not a paranormal hot spot.  Wrapping up the night, with a good amount of video, audio, and photos, our
two investigators headed to their motel a few miles out of Centralia.  With such a larger area to cover, it was
a town after all, we were only able to cover the areas on the south side of Route 61.

All in all it was a very interesting place to visit, and investigate.  We did not capture any potential evidence
of paranormal activity.  Honestly did not expect to, though.  Centralia should not be forgotten.  It may only
be a footnote in Pennsylvania history,  but hopefully other towns have learned from the lesson here.  Many
former townspeople are expected to return in 2016 to open a time capsule that was buried back in 1966.  It's
predicted that the underground fire will continue burning for another 250 years.  So who knows, maybe we'll
go back someday.
Not much traffic passes through
anymore