The Real Silent Hill - Centralia, PA - Underground Mine Fire Burning Since '62

For those who are unaware, Centralia, PA has a mine fire burning deep underneath the town. The fire started in the trash pit back in 1962 and has been burning ever since. Estimates put the duration of the burn (From this point) in centuries - 250-500 years or more. Roger Avery, director of the "Silent Hill" movie, has said part of his inspiration for the movie was from Centralia. He was told about Centralia when he was a child by his father. He and the production crew for the movie visited Centralia as well.

I edited a video late last night (1am). It has some good shots of the highway, smoke from the fire, the church, etc. I've only edited 1 other video ever, so it's nothing amazing.

Click here for the video: A Tour of "The Real Silent Hill" - Centralia, PA - YouTube

Once a thriving mountain town with thousands of people, on top of a massive deposite of Anthracite coal (the longest burning coal in the world), Centralia has deteriorated significantly over the years. Currently the population estimate is under 7 people. As of yesterday it seems only 2-3 houses, a church, an autobody style shop, and the municpal building remain.

Route 61, the main north-south thru-road, has had problems as well. The only Route 61 has subsided extensively. That part of the road has been closed, and a new road around it has been established for several years now. As you can see from the image below, it is not somewhere you want to drive your car. Though a Jeep, or other four wheel drive vehicle makes for a fun time:





As you heard from the video, this is the most people I've EVER seen here on one trip:




This part of Centralia is the ridge that runs west to east:


In the distance you can see new wind turbines that were added over the last 2-3 years:




You can also see the church:


Which upon closer inspection, is really quite near to the church in "Silent Hill" - closer shot:


One of 3 cemetaries in town:




Heading out of town to the East provides some great trails. There are some nice powerlines trails, and intersecting trails that provide some mild wheeling. Nothing too crazy, but it can get a little sketchy at times. Some shots here:




More trips, more videos, more photos in the future. I'm open to recommendations on what you would like to see more of when I head up there next time.

 

Neat, I read up on Centralia when I was doing some research on abandonded places in PA.
Seems like the east side of the state more to offer.

 

It's a very surreal place to visit. I figure Western PA has a lot of abandoned steel mills and factories though??

 

Kind of, but nothing you can really get into. It's mostly sad ghetto steel towns.
I have a buddy that may bring me along on a overnight ghost hunt to Eastern State.
If that happens I'll make a thread on here it will be interesting.

 

Those roads look almost as bad as the ones we have here in Oklahoma!:wink:

 

Durk, that stinks. I always assumed it was abandoned mills and factories galore. I guess that makes sense though. I do love this side of the state for the history that we have, especially in Philly and nearby.

Sleep: I feel bad for you. I'd sell my bike ASAP at that point lol.

Here is a "drive around" video of the town. You can see one of the remaining houses, and the rest is .. well, just empty streets.

The video is here: "The Real Silent Hill" - Centralia, PA Street Tour - YouTube

 

Thanks for sharing the pics and video. Strage but a couple of us at work were just talking about this fire this morning and then I see this.

 

You're welcome. That's so odd! How did the topic start?

One of my winter trips: Shamokin and Centralia - 12-14 to 12-16-07 - Silent Hill Centralia Rick Rotondo Photography Scuba Diving Automotive West Chester Exton PA Pennsylvania Photographer

Photo examples from the album above:




As you can see, it gets hot enough in winter to prevent snow accumulation.

 

A couple of us had read the book "The End Of Oil" and were talking about the global change from coal to oil and what that ushered in. Then a guy mentioned this coal mine that had a fire burning since sometime back in the 60's he thought. So he Google'd it. It was just very strange that in my whole life I had never heard this and then twice in one day to have it come up, very deja-vu.

 

For those interested, I just found this today. These are the current fire fronts - this is thermal infrared imagery:





ScienceDirect.com - International Journal of Coal Geology - Mapping the coal fire at Centralia, Pa using thermal infrared imagery