Location of a burning anthracite coal mine along PA route 61 in Columbia County, the largest underground coal fire in the US. The fire originated in a trash dump in a strip mine near Odd Fellows Cemetery in 1962. Mistakenly believed to have been extinguished that same year, the fire was allowed to continue burning. The fires expanded into the chain of underground mine shafts and by 1981 was causing subsidence within the town's borders. In 1983 a Government buy out of properties relocated residents, reducing the population of Centralia from it's highest number of 1,100 to a mere 46 residents by 1984. In 1994 PA route 54/61 had to be closed and rerouted via Byrnsville Road, due to buckling of the pavement surface caused by the heat produced by the burning coal mine underneath. Mineralogy typical of that produced by burning coal. The various vents for the gasses, both artificial and natural, are encrusted with sulphurous minerals.
Refs.:
SU Geo. & Env. Sci., A. Martinez, Dr. D. Ressler
J. Kitsko, "PA Highways-Centrailia"
http://www.shulersnet.com/coalcracker/fire.htm
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Map Reference: 40°48'15"N , 76°20'27"W
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