1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeart Radio, Hey brain 2 00:00:06,840 --> 00:00:11,640 Speaker 1: Stuff Lauren Vogel bam here. The smallest municipality in Pennsylvania 3 00:00:11,840 --> 00:00:15,960 Speaker 1: is Centralia, a former mining community located about two hours 4 00:00:15,960 --> 00:00:19,800 Speaker 1: northwest of Philadelphia. Records tell us it had one thousand, 5 00:00:19,880 --> 00:00:24,040 Speaker 1: four hundred and thirty five residents in the year nineteen sixty. Today, 6 00:00:24,239 --> 00:00:28,080 Speaker 1: fewer than ten people still live there. The US Postal 7 00:00:28,120 --> 00:00:31,680 Speaker 1: Service revoked Centralia's zip code in two thousand two, and 8 00:00:31,840 --> 00:00:34,840 Speaker 1: the local portion of State Route sixty one was permanently 9 00:00:34,840 --> 00:00:38,879 Speaker 1: closed off nine years before that. We can't blame the 10 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:44,879 Speaker 1: area's decline on the usual socioeconomics suspects. Its problems run deeper, literally, 11 00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:49,320 Speaker 1: since at least nineteen sixty two, a coal seam fire 12 00:00:49,440 --> 00:00:53,720 Speaker 1: has been smoldering right below the town. Yes, in Centralia, 13 00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:57,040 Speaker 1: the earth has been smoking and ash has been raining 14 00:00:57,080 --> 00:01:01,840 Speaker 1: down for over fifty years. No one knows exactly how 15 00:01:01,840 --> 00:01:04,960 Speaker 1: the coal fire got started, but whatever set the thing off, 16 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:08,119 Speaker 1: this long lived blaze isn't some kind of one off fluke. 17 00:01:09,040 --> 00:01:12,920 Speaker 1: Naturally occurring coal deposits are called seams in the mining industry, 18 00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:16,760 Speaker 1: and wherever such veins occur, whole seam fires like the 19 00:01:16,760 --> 00:01:21,600 Speaker 1: one under Centralia may break out and commonly do. China's 20 00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:24,800 Speaker 1: three thousand mile or five thousand kilometer coal mining belt 21 00:01:24,880 --> 00:01:27,920 Speaker 1: is notorious for its seam fires. So is a town 22 00:01:27,920 --> 00:01:31,040 Speaker 1: in India where fires have claimed about forty one million 23 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:35,479 Speaker 1: tons of coal since nineteen eighteen. We spoke via email 24 00:01:35,520 --> 00:01:39,800 Speaker 1: with a Newtma Prakash, a geologist at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. 25 00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:42,880 Speaker 1: She said the issue is more prevalent in areas where 26 00:01:42,920 --> 00:01:45,640 Speaker 1: coal was extracted in the past with limited efforts to 27 00:01:45,760 --> 00:01:48,920 Speaker 1: ensure that the whole left from the extraction was filled up. 28 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:53,640 Speaker 1: She explained that minds that don't provide structural support to 29 00:01:53,720 --> 00:01:59,320 Speaker 1: keep ground from collapsing likewise risk seam fire outbreaks. Granted, 30 00:01:59,440 --> 00:02:03,880 Speaker 1: humans aren't always responsible though. Down in New South Wales, Australia, 31 00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:06,600 Speaker 1: there's a famous coal seam that's been burning for six 32 00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:10,320 Speaker 1: thousand years straight. Scientists think it was first ignited by 33 00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:14,600 Speaker 1: an ancient brush fire or lightning strike. The coal doesn't 34 00:02:14,639 --> 00:02:18,160 Speaker 1: need much encouragement to catch fire. Under the right circumstances, 35 00:02:18,240 --> 00:02:22,000 Speaker 1: the material can actually light itself ablaze through spontaneous combustion. 36 00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:26,720 Speaker 1: We also spoke via email with research geologist Alan Colker 37 00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:31,560 Speaker 1: He explained the decomposition of pyrite present in coal produces heat, 38 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:34,960 Speaker 1: and in some cases this self heating can start the 39 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:37,760 Speaker 1: coal on fire. This is a problem even where coal 40 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:43,200 Speaker 1: is transported long distances and ships. By most accounts, Centralia's 41 00:02:43,240 --> 00:02:45,840 Speaker 1: Great Fire began at a dump near the local Odd 42 00:02:45,840 --> 00:02:51,519 Speaker 1: Fellows Cemetery on nineteen sixty two. This landfill was intentionally 43 00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:55,400 Speaker 1: set ablaze with six volunteer firefighters standing by. It was 44 00:02:55,440 --> 00:02:57,600 Speaker 1: all part of a yearly clean up effort by the 45 00:02:57,720 --> 00:03:02,639 Speaker 1: local government. Controlled ns were popular garbage disposal technique back then, 46 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:07,040 Speaker 1: but things didn't always go according to plan. Perhaps this 47 00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:11,080 Speaker 1: fire ran deeper into the trash than anybody realized. If so, 48 00:03:11,240 --> 00:03:13,520 Speaker 1: it could have spread through the refuse and entered the 49 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:16,240 Speaker 1: nearest coal mine pit with no one being the wiser. 50 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:20,320 Speaker 1: Then again, maybe the town government had nothing to do 51 00:03:20,360 --> 00:03:23,400 Speaker 1: with it. Some have argued that a different garbage fire 52 00:03:23,440 --> 00:03:26,640 Speaker 1: at the same site, a lit by an unidentified truck driver, 53 00:03:27,040 --> 00:03:31,320 Speaker 1: is what really sealed Centralia's fate. Another less popular theory 54 00:03:31,480 --> 00:03:33,720 Speaker 1: claims that the coal seam fire started all the way 55 00:03:33,720 --> 00:03:36,800 Speaker 1: back in the Great Depression and went unextinguished for decades 56 00:03:36,880 --> 00:03:41,600 Speaker 1: before the nineteen sixties gave it a new lease on life. Regardless, 57 00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:45,160 Speaker 1: the inferno made itself right at home, sweeping through mine 58 00:03:45,160 --> 00:03:48,240 Speaker 1: tunnels and coal seams. Flames descended as far as three 59 00:03:48,320 --> 00:03:52,560 Speaker 1: hundred feet that's ninety below the ground, sometimes nearing temperatures 60 00:03:52,640 --> 00:03:55,520 Speaker 1: of one thousand, three hundred and fifty degrees fahrenheit or 61 00:03:55,560 --> 00:04:01,760 Speaker 1: seven thirty celsius. According to an investigation, in passageways underlying 62 00:04:01,880 --> 00:04:04,640 Speaker 1: some four hundred acres or a hundred and sixty hectares 63 00:04:04,720 --> 00:04:06,880 Speaker 1: of land had been touched by the blaze at some 64 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:11,680 Speaker 1: time or other. Kolker said uncontrolled coal fires have all 65 00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:15,160 Speaker 1: the potential environmental impacts of burning coal for power generation, 66 00:04:15,480 --> 00:04:19,200 Speaker 1: with none of the benefits. In addition to emitting carbon dioxide, 67 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:23,320 Speaker 1: trace metals such as mercury and harmful fine particles are omitted. 68 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:27,599 Speaker 1: Per Cash noted that methane and sulfur dioxide are also 69 00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:31,440 Speaker 1: common and so distinctive that just talking about these fires 70 00:04:31,520 --> 00:04:35,680 Speaker 1: virtually floods her with memories of the scent. To this day, 71 00:04:35,880 --> 00:04:40,240 Speaker 1: smoke rises from the earth through fissures around Centralia. Meanwhile, 72 00:04:40,320 --> 00:04:45,040 Speaker 1: the terrain has become perilously unstable over time. Percash said 73 00:04:45,520 --> 00:04:49,120 Speaker 1: these fires are dangerous as land can suddenly collapse or 74 00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:52,479 Speaker 1: sink as the fire just eats up the ground underneath. 75 00:04:52,920 --> 00:04:56,200 Speaker 1: Such collapses can damage houses, roads, train tracks, et cetera. 76 00:04:57,400 --> 00:05:00,320 Speaker 1: That's why Pennsylvania closed off four thousand feet or about 77 00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:02,880 Speaker 1: one thousand, two hundred meters of root sixty one back in. 78 00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:07,880 Speaker 1: Subterranean pillars that held up the pavement were destroyed or 79 00:05:07,920 --> 00:05:12,200 Speaker 1: weakened by the flames, making the roadway totally unsuitable for motorists. 80 00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:18,880 Speaker 1: So will Centralia's fire ever burn out. Extinguishing efforts so 81 00:05:18,960 --> 00:05:22,480 Speaker 1: far haven't paid off. Between nineteen sixty two and nineteen 82 00:05:22,520 --> 00:05:26,560 Speaker 1: eighty two, assorted government agencies spent seven million dollars fighting 83 00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:30,440 Speaker 1: the Centralia coal fire. Openings were sealed, trenches were dug, 84 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:33,880 Speaker 1: and the mines were stuffed with non combustible ashes, sands 85 00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:39,039 Speaker 1: and crushed rocks, but nothing worked. Nearly all of Centralia's 86 00:05:39,080 --> 00:05:42,240 Speaker 1: former residents are long gone. Many took advantage of a 87 00:05:42,279 --> 00:05:46,360 Speaker 1: forty two million dollar taxpayer funded relocation initiative, which saw 88 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:50,479 Speaker 1: five hundred buildings destroyed. The final holdouts have been granted 89 00:05:50,480 --> 00:05:52,839 Speaker 1: permission to spend the rest of their lives in the town, 90 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:57,960 Speaker 1: as per settlement with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. According to 91 00:05:58,000 --> 00:06:01,039 Speaker 1: the state's Department of Environmental Protection, the fire might keep 92 00:06:01,040 --> 00:06:03,320 Speaker 1: on raging for over a hundred years yet to come. 93 00:06:04,760 --> 00:06:07,520 Speaker 1: But as bad as they can get, coal seam fires 94 00:06:07,560 --> 00:06:12,000 Speaker 1: aren't invincible, Prakash said. Good policies on mining safety and 95 00:06:12,040 --> 00:06:15,520 Speaker 1: reclamation go a long way as preventative measure. If a 96 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:18,400 Speaker 1: fire does start, taking quick action to contain it by 97 00:06:18,440 --> 00:06:22,200 Speaker 1: isolating the fire, dousing the fire, cooling the area, and 98 00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:24,960 Speaker 1: continued monitoring to ensure that the fire does not start 99 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:30,000 Speaker 1: again are important measures. Centralia's hellish effect made it part 100 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:32,400 Speaker 1: of the inspiration for the two thousand six horror film 101 00:06:32,480 --> 00:06:35,159 Speaker 1: Silent Hill, the departure from the video game series that 102 00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:38,919 Speaker 1: it was adapted from, and over the past thirty odd years, 103 00:06:38,960 --> 00:06:43,120 Speaker 1: the town Centralia, not Silent Hill, has become an unlikely 104 00:06:43,200 --> 00:06:47,680 Speaker 1: tourist destination. One former attraction was the abandoned stretch of 105 00:06:47,760 --> 00:06:52,039 Speaker 1: Root sixty one. Dubbed the Graffiti Highway. It attracted masses 106 00:06:52,040 --> 00:06:54,919 Speaker 1: of street artists who added a rainbow of cartoons and 107 00:06:55,040 --> 00:06:59,600 Speaker 1: signatures to the pavement. However, in twenty twenty, the corporation 108 00:06:59,640 --> 00:07:02,600 Speaker 1: that the undrivable road had it covered up with piles 109 00:07:02,600 --> 00:07:05,560 Speaker 1: of dirt, to dissuade visitors from swinging by during the 110 00:07:05,640 --> 00:07:14,200 Speaker 1: COVID nineteen pandemic. Today's episode was written by Mark Mancini 111 00:07:14,280 --> 00:07:16,640 Speaker 1: and produced by Tyler Clay. For more on this and 112 00:07:16,640 --> 00:07:19,600 Speaker 1: lots of other burning topics, visit how stuff works dot com. 113 00:07:19,720 --> 00:07:22,440 Speaker 1: Brain Stuff is production of iHeart Radio. For more podcasts 114 00:07:22,440 --> 00:07:24,400 Speaker 1: for my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, 115 00:07:24,480 --> 00:07:27,200 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.