True Crime-Paranormal-Conspiracy Theories Stories Part V #Wattys2023

Centralia Mine Fire

The Centralia mine fire is acoal-seam fire that has been burning in the labyrinth of abandonedcoal mines underneath the borough of Centralia, Pennsylvania, UnitedStates, since at least May 27, 1962. Its original cause and startdate are still a matter of debate. It is burning in underground coalmines at depths of up to 300 ft (90 m) over an 8 mi (13 km) stretchof 3,700 acres (15 km2). At its current rate, it could continue toburn for over 250 years. It has caused most of the town to beabandoned: by 2017, the population had dwindled to 5 residents fromaround 1,500 at the time the fire is believed to have started, andmost of the buildings have been razed.

Background

On May 7, 1962, the Centralia Councilmet to discuss the approaching Memorial Day and how the town would goabout cleaning up the Centralia landfill, which was introducedearlier that year. The 300-foot-wide, 75-foot-long (91 m × 23 m) pitwas made up of a 50-foot-deep (15 m) strip mine that had been clearedby Edward Whitney in 1935, and came very close to the northeastcorner of Odd Fellows Cemetery. There were eight illegal dumps spreadabout Centralia, and the council's intention in creating the landfillwas to stop the illegal dumping, as new state regulations had forcedthe town to close an earlier dump west of St. Ignatius Cemetery.Trustees at the cemetery were opposed to the landfill's proximity tothe cemetery, but recognized the illegal dumping elsewhere as aserious problem and envisioned that the new pit would resolve it.

Pennsylvania had passed a precautionarylaw in 1956 to regulate landfill use in strip mines, as landfillswere known to cause destructive mine fires. The law required a permitand regular inspection for a municipality to use such a pit. GeorgeSegaritus, a regional landfill inspector who worked for theDepartment of Mines and Mineral Industries (DMMI), became concernedabout the pit when he noticed holes in the walls and floor, as suchmines often cut through older mines underneath. Segaritus informedJoseph Tighe, a Centralia councilman, that the pit would requirefilling with an incombustible material.

Fire

This was a world where no humancould live, hotter than the planet Mercury, its atmosphere aspoisonous as Saturn's. At the heart of the fire, temperatures easilyexceeded 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit [540 degrees Celsius]. Lethalclouds of carbon monoxide and other gases swirled through the rockchambers.

— David DeKok, UnseenDanger: A Tragedy of People, Government, and the Centralia Mine Fire(University of Pennsylvania Press, 1986)

Plan and execution

The town council arranged for cleanupof the strip mine dump, but council minutes do not describe theproposed procedure. DeKok surmises that the process—setting it onfire—was not specified because state law prohibited dump fires.Nonetheless, the Centralia council set a date and hired five membersof the volunteer firefighter company to clean up the landfill.

A fire was ignited to clean the dump onMay 27, 1962, and water was used to douse the visible flames thatnight. However, flames were seen once more on May 29. Using hoseshooked up from Locust Avenue, another attempt was made to douse thefire that night. Another flare-up in the following week (June 4)caused the Centralia Fire Company to once again douse it with hoses.A bulldozer stirred up the garbage so that firemen could douseconcealed layers of the burning waste. A few days later, a hole aswide as 15 ft (4.6 m) and several feet high was found in the base ofthe north wall of the pit. Garbage had concealed the hole andprevented it from being filled with incombustible material. It ispossible that this hole led to the mine fire, as it provided apathway to the labyrinth of old mines under the borough. Evidenceindicates that, despite these efforts to douse the fire, the landfillcontinued to burn; on July 2, Monsignor William J. Burke complainedabout foul odors from the smoldering trash and coal reaching St.Ignatius Church. Even then, the Centralia council still allowed thedumping of garbage into the pit.