Do you know that there is a city in the world which has been burning continuously for the last 60 years (Town on fire for 60 years)? Due to a big mistake, this city has become haunted today… that is because no one lives here now. When the air of the city started getting poisoned, people left their homes and went away from here. Piles of soil were put on the roads leading to this city so that tourists could not go here. The postal zip code of this place was also abolished, many efforts were made to extinguish the fire, but all the efforts proved unsuccessful. Where is this city after all?
We are talking about a small town named Centralia, located in Pennsylvania, USA. The burning of this town started in the summer of 1962, when the town was preparing for the country’s Memorial Day. In America, Memorial Day is celebrated on the last Monday of May to pay tribute to its dead soldiers. Something similar was to happen in May 1962. Before Memorial Day in Centralia, all the garbage of the town was burnt by putting it in a big landfill, i.e. a pit made for garbage. Something similar was to happen that year too.
Located in Centralia, Pennsylvania. (Photo: Canva)
Poison spreading in the air
The garbage was set on fire, but a big mistake was made. What happened was that the fire spread to the coal mine below. The city of Centralia is built on a very large coal mine. These mines are spread like a net which goes up to a depth of about 700 feet and is spread over thousands of acres. Due to fire at one place, the fire in the mines kept increasing and covered a large part of the area. According to the All That’s Interesting website, this fire was set on the night of 27 May 1962. Initially the fire was extinguished. But after 2 days the fire was seen burning again at the garbage site. Then on 4 June the fire was seen burning again. Slowly carbon monoxide gas started spreading in the air which is extremely lethal.
Now it has become a deserted city, even the roads have been damaged due to the fire. (Photo: Canva)
Many efforts were made to extinguish the fire
The mine belonged to the Susquehanna Coal Company. The government along with the company made several attempts to extinguish the fire. First, it was decided to dig pits so that the fire could come up and be extinguished, but this would require a lot of digging and there was not enough money. After this, the second plan was made to fill the pits with water and small stones, so that the fire inside could be extinguished, but due to the low temperature, the water started freezing. By 1983, the Pennsylvania administration had spent Rs 58 crore in extinguishing the fire, but they did not succeed.
Smoke will continue to rise for 250 years
Due to the continuous smoke, people started fainting in their homes, the trees and plants around started drying up. Animals also started dying. By 1980, the population of the city had reached 1000. However, people gradually learned to live with the smoke. In 1983, the federal government bought Centralia for Rs 350 crore and after that started the work of removing people from there and demolishing the buildings. Many people did not want to leave their homes. They started a legal battle with the government. By 1993, there were 63 people left there. While by 2013, less than 10 people were left. Now the city has become completely deserted. It is believed that there is so much coal under the city that it will keep burning for the next 250 years.
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FIRST PUBLISHED : July 7, 2024, 07:01 IST
