Centralia, PA

dh4coal wrote: He told me that the fire in Centralia will probably burn 200-300 years! Next time I talk to him, I'll see if he can enlighten me on the mechanics of an underground fire.

I wouldn't count on it Centralia is surrounded on all 4 sides by Coal operators (two of which are Blaschak and Reading) just waiting for the Gov. to get the last of the hold outs removed rumor has it there have been bids submitted for the final demolition of remaining buildings

i've been told that mines under shamokin have been burning for years

there was a mine fire right near here in the 70's....culm fire got into an exposed vein just outside of branchdale

A home in Centralia. Photographed June 9, 2007 during the first Coal Forum Tour. Note those polish chimneys. No problem with coal fly ash coming out of them!

i think they are gone now.....i dont remember seeing that house on my way to bloom, neither does my buddy on his way here

I go thru Centralia almost daily and today I had the camera with me on my way over to the Girard Breaker and I just couldn't think of anything worthwhile left in Centralia to take a picture of, maybe I'm jaded or maybe the whole Centralia thing is just over .

Richard S. wrote:Stephen King made a short story based on there, can't remember the name at the moment.

"from a buick 8" ?
2nd worst King story I ever read.

pbmax wrote:"from a buick 8" ?
2nd worst King story I ever read.

Yea that sounds familiar... really not sure. It's been years since I read it and I'm too lazy to look it up.

dirvine96 wrote:My grandfather alway said the best coal came from Shamokin. Most of my family lived up on Bear Valley Ave. I'm not sure what mines he and his bother worked in. I know they spent good part of the depression in the pokie for bootleging coal from closed mines. The town has changed alot.

Mind if I ask if you family is still there? I grew up with and still hang out with a lot of the coal miners that still live on the "Ave". And I know a few of them that are paying fines for mining from closed mines and also for selling coal outside their contract. So even since so much has changed, so much will always stay the same!

Because it burns, coal can also catch fire (this above-ground culm fire was memorialized on a 100-year-old postcard), and an underground coal fire can burn for as long as the coal holds out, killing the land above it with heat, smoke, sulfur gases and carbon dioxide. Coal fires in the United States have been burning for decades; others in China have burned for centuries. China's coal fires destroy over five times more coal than the nation mines, and coal fires in China alone add up to about 3 percent of the whole Earth's fossil-fuel CO2 load. New Scientist has a brief introduction to the problem with good links.

I'm not sure how reliable this article is after reading that some of these underground fires are started by cigarette butts being thrown around. They certainly don't start Anthracite fires in that manner.

What I don't understand is if it's just gas burning, what would be causing the depression areas in the the town? It seems like the fire would need to be burning timber supports in the tunnels? If not, then it seems logical the coal is burning and then as it weakens it collapses.

I went to school in Mansfield University and went through that town once or twice. IT's very eeerie!

Seems like the coal companies could pay off the hold outs with coal money royalties. Who in their right mind would want to live near that?

Also if the coal companies would go in there, would it help to strip mine it? Wouldn't that reduce the gas buildup and take care of the issue?

I just watched a segment on this for the first time on the History Channel last night. Very sad.

Enough fuel to burn for 1000 years? Wow, a one match, 1000-year burn, no shaking or ash removal required!

Another reference to Centralia on BoingBoing including information on other underground coal and gas fires.

http://www.boingboing.net/2009/06/16/gi ... holes.html

The coal companies don't have to offer the holdouts anything. They don't own their land or homes. When the Commonwealth of Pa. issued eminent domain proceedings, they seized the properties, but were reluctant to enforce it. As a result the holdouts have been living rent free and tax free in state owned homes and land. Recently two fo the holdouts have been notified to clear out. One is now gone and the other has until Labor Day. That leaves three households in Centralia borough totaling five people and two households in adjacent Conyngham Township with another five occupants.