Centralia, Pa. coal mine fire has been burning since 1962
Our blood has stained the coal
We tunneled deep inside the nation’s soul
We matter more than pounds and pence
Your economic theory makes no sense- Sting, “We Work the Black Seam”
The recession has claimed the homes of thousands of people across this nation. The old way of living while mortgaged to the hilt is quickly being swallowed into the great void that is America’s rude awakening. This means that some who lived a fast life beyond their means are being cast out of Babylon, payday loans in hand; for those in Centralia, PA., however, change means leaving their ancestral homes before to great Centralia, PA. coal fire consumes what is left of their lives.
Gonna find me a piece of bottom land
John Lokitis Jr., 39, never wanted to leave Centralia, PA. He’d lived there all his life, despite the Central, PA. coal mine fire that was started in 1962 and continues to burn. The state had ordered him and about a dozen other Centralians out, but they have remained in the houses Pennsylvania has claimed. They are squatters in their own homes. Mind you, this is much more sensible that when ACORN encouraged people to illegally squat in foreclosed homes, but it is illegal nonetheless. Centralia, PA. residents want the comforts of home, carbon monoxide gas aside.
Subject to carbon monoxide poisoning since the 1970s
The Centralia, Pa. coal fire was set in 1962. Lack of funding to control the fire left it burning. By the 1970s, residents began to suffer from illnesses related to carbon monoxide poisoning and injuries resulting from sinkholes. Demolition projects began in earnest by 1983, thanks to a $42 million federal program. Eventually, the town was shut by Pennsylvania’s governor because it was unsafe for the workers. Yet Centralia, Pa. lifers remained. More than 1,000 were relocated, but a handful couldn’t let go.
What’s it like, nursing a dying town?
If you’ve ever played the video game Fallout 3, I imagine it would be something like that. The real question is what is it like to know that there’s a fire burning beneath your town, a fire that could cause the ground to cave in and swallow your home with you in it? Wouldn’t you be happy to leave? At what point must sentimentality give way to self-preservation?
John Lokitis told the Times that “It was part of my life for all 39 years, that house. It was difficult to leave it and difficult to see it demolished.”
It will not be reborn
All who remained in the Centralia, Pa. danger zone were holding out hope for a rebirth. I wonder how many payday loans it would take for a remodel on that scale?
It doesn’t matter now. The State of Pennsylvania is finally moving the squatters out. The once thriving coal town will be left to burn itself to sleep.
(Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/coPa.41/ / CC BY 2.0)
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Anyone can just drive up to the cemetaries in Centralia. We've been a few times, and are headed back up today!
breaks my heart.
My great great grandparents are buried in Centralia. I am doing a family genealogy search and want to visit the graves. Does anyone know if its possible to reach the cemetery, if only for a few minutes? Also, where did the records for Centralia go? The country seat? I live in California so don't want to make the trip if I can't enter the town or search some of the records. Thanks, John
John-
My grandmother grew up in Centralia. When I was doing genealogy work a couple of years ago, I found records in Sunbury, which is not far from Centralia. Many of the records are in the basement of the county offices. When I was there it was very much like a dungeon, but the records were pretty good if you know what you are looking for. Indexes are kept upstairs and the detail records are down below. I was able to take a digital camera to photograph pages. Be mindful that it also the jail and courthouse, so you are subject to search and denial to bring things in (like a camera) if there are trials in session. Asking them to make copies of things from the archives and sending them to you is not a great idea. If you don't leave with copies, you'll never see them.
i go there regularly. you can still drive the streets and walk around. The fire is on the edge of the town. The cemetaries are very well taken care of.Visit soon …. there are only a few left there and most likely the coal companies are dig up whats left.
Last I knew, you could still get to the cemetary. My Mom is buried there. We visited about 15 years ago. It is not a place to stay long. The heat came through the bottom of your shoes very quickly if you do not keep moving. The cemetary has several vent pipes around it to vent the smoke and heat. I saw a few articles about them closing off the cemetary, but I think that would open another can of worms that the gov't does not want. They have refused to move the bodies to another resting place citing that they are outside the danger area. So, if they extend the closed off area, then they get into arguements about moving the cemetary.
if you come across this article and want to know more there is a documentary with alot of Mr. Lokitis in it called "The Town That Was." by Chris Perkel and George Roland.
What a lot of people don’t understand and neither did I until I went to Centralia myself. The whole town is NOT on fire. The fire burns on a hillside by the cemetery. The fire cannot come into the town because there is no coal there. The houses that were affected by the fire were those close to the hill. John Lokitis’ grandfather told him the fire would never come down the hill into the town and for 48 years it hasn’t left the hill. On an 1882 mine map I have it shows the extent of the Buck Mt. vein on which the fire burns. It is exactly where it is now. It can’t burn any farther, it has no coal to burn.