A small part of the Centralia mine fire after being exposed during excavation in 1969Steam rising through a fissure in the ground in the closed-off area of former Pennsylvania Route 61 in 2010. The melted snow, which covered the ground around it, shows areas where heat is escaping from the ground below.
The Centralia mine fire is a coal-seam fire that has been burning in the labyrinth of abandoned coal mines underneath the borough of Centralia, Pennsylvania, United States, since at least May 27, 1962. Its original cause and start date are still a matter of debate.[1][page needed][2][3][page needed] It is burning at depths of up to 300 ft (90 m) over an 8 mi (13 km) stretch of 3,700 acres (15 km2).[4] At its current rate, it could continue to burn for over 250 years.[5] Due to the fire, Centralia was mostly abandoned in the 1980s. There were 1,500 residents at the time the fire is believed to have started, but as of 2017 Centralia has a population of 5[6] and most of the buildings have been demolished.
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