50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning

May 25, 2012 from Associated Press

Most of Centralia, Pennsylvania was demolished in the 1980s after a slow-burning fire that began in 1962 spread to an underground network of coal mines. Only a handful of people remain now, resisting the state's efforts to help them leave, even though the fire is still burning -- 50 years after it started.

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Coal seam fire

A coal seam fire or mine fire is the underground smouldering of a coal deposit, often in a coal mine. Such fires have economic, social and ecological impacts. They are often started by lightning, grass, or forest fires, and are particularly insidious because they continue to s... Explore this topic

Centralia, Pennsylvania

Centralia is a borough and a near ghost town in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, United States. Its population has dwindled from over 1,000 residents in 1981 to 10 in 2010, as a result of a mine fire burning beneath the borough since 1962. Centralia is one of the least-populated... Explore this topic

Coal mining

The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and, since the 1880s, has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. ... Explore this topic

Coal

Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature a... Explore this topic

Ghost town

Aavekaupungeiksi kutsutaan kaupunkeja, jotka tavalla tai toisella ovat tyhjentyneet tai jotka on evakuoitu määräajaksi tai lopullisesti. Määräajaksi tyhjennetyissä aavekaupungeissa tarvitaan järjestyksenvalvontaa, jotteivät rikollisuus tai anarkia pääse valloilleen. Termiä käy... Explore this topic

Fire

Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. Slower oxidative processes like rusting or digestion are not included by this definition. The flame is the visible portion of the f... Explore this topic

United States

The United States of America, commonly called the United States, or America, is a federal republic consisting of fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capi... Explore this topic

Associated Press

The Associated Press is a multinational non-profit news agency based in New York City. The AP is a nonprofit cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio, and television stations in the United States, all of which contribute stories to the AP and use material writte... Explore this topic

Also See

Coal seam fire

Centralia, Pennsylvania

Coal mining

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