Fix, Repair, And Put Centralia Pennsylvania Back On The Map

Located in Columbia County are code 570 a small town called Centralia, PA.In 1841 it was known as the town of Bulls Head named after a Cavern/ Saloon opened by a man named Johnathan Faust. Mr. William Weidensaul conducted the tavern as a saloon till 1867. It was then known as Centreville until 1865 when the post office was established. It was then names Centralia, the name was suggested by Alexander. W. Rea. In 1854 Alexander Rea a civil mining engineer for the Locust Mountain COal And Iron compant moved to the site and laid out the streets for development. Rea was a victim of the secret order when he was murdered just outside of the borough on October 17, 1868. The three individuals were convicted and hanged in Bloomsburg, PA on March 25, 1878 (10 years later). The borough was served by two railroads the Philadelphia and Reading and the Lehigh Valley. At the towns peak it was called home to about 2,761 people, there own school district, 2 catholic parochial schools, 5 hotels, 7 churches, 27 saloons, 2 theatres, 1 bank, 1 post office, and 14 general and grocer stores. the anthracite coal industry was the principle employer in the community. Anthracite is the richest coal, the purest, and least common. Its hard to ignite and even harder to put out. In the 1960's most coal companies went out of buisness. Bootleg mining continues until 1982. Strip and open pit mining was still active in the area and there was an underground mine employing about 40 employees 3 miles west. The towns time capsule was buried in 1966 to be opened in 2016. May 27 of 1962 five volunteer firefighters were burning acess garbage in a landfill behind Odd Fellows Cemetery as they did every year before Memorial Day. The burning of the garbage ignited the anthracite, but they were un aware the fire was burning down a tunnel under there feet at a depth of 100 meters to the abandoned coal mines. They put out the fire above ground that day. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources bagan monitoring the fire. They drilled holes into the earth to try and determine the depth of the fire. This only gave the flames oxygen to thrive also the connecting mine in Ashland was also giving it oxygen making the issue even worse. As the coal burned it gave off high doses of Carbon Monoxide seeping into basements and the air we breathe causing numerous health problems. In 1969 they tried to use clay seals and trenches to contain the fire (7 years later). In 1979 a gas station owner was checking his undergound gas tanks to find it was very hot he dropped in a thermometer to find the gas was 172 degrees. In 1980 they had come to the conclusion that only digging up the entire 3000 acres would distinguish the fire coasting over $663,000 a cost that the government wasnt willing to give the town to help the problem. There were no more plans of putting it out. In 1981 a 12 year old bot named Todd Domboski fell into a sinkhole the ground had opened up right under his feet luckily his loving cousin saved his life that day but, it took a close call of a human life to bring state wide attention to the fire.& million had been spent already in trying to put out the fire. In 1984 due to failed attempts and threats of cave ins, hydrogen explosions, and carbon monoxide the state of PA was given 42 million from congress to relocate the town to Ashland. It wasnt mandatory to leave, some took the buy out and left others who loved this town stayed saying the coal fire was no threat to anyone. The 84year old mayor Lamar Mervine refused to leave his town he had been born and raised in the house 411 Troutwine Street since 1916 and he wasnt letting them take it away from him. He said "No party ever made a whole-hearted effort to extinguish the bluish flames." "They were always a day late or a dollar short". The mayor never left and died on January 1, 2010 they were then talking about demolishing the home he stayed to protect and the town he loved. The other people who stayed believed the state had ulterior motives in forcing them out such as the mineral rights to the 3,700 acres of coal. The temperature where the coal burns is around 1,100- 1,200 degrees. A once thriving and beautfil town is now considered a ghost town with more dead residents than alive. Newer maps dont even have Centralia on them. In 2002 the zip code of 17927 was revoked. This fire has been burning since 1962 and theres enough to burn for another 250 years, over 400 acres and spreading. The town was condemned in 1992. Signs were posted around town saying things like "We love Centralia" "Put out the fire not people" and "Stop talking start digging" trying to save there helpless town that has been forgotten and left to burn. There were also two other mine fires in Scranton and Wilkes-Barre they were put out and Centralia was told they were on there own.