Deadliest coal mine disasters in the United States, "Centralia No. Smoke rises from a large crack in PA Highway 61, caused by the underground coal fire that has been has been burning for almost 60 years. The town council arranged for cleanup of the strip mine dump, but council minutes do not describe the proposed procedure. Work on the project began August 22.[7]. At the time of the explosion, 142 men were in the mine; 65 were killed by burns and other injuries and 45 were killed by afterdamp. [7] Based on this and due to contrary evidence, few hold this position, and it is given little credibility. One former attraction was the abandoned stretch of Route 61. These problems quickly depleted funds. [23][15], The 2006 supernatural horror film Silent Hill draws on these events, although the film is based in West Virginia. The drilling would have delayed the project, not to mention the legal problems with mining rights.[7]. [5] It has caused most of the town to be abandoned: the population dwindled from around 1,500 at the time the fire started to 5 in 2017,[6] and most of the buildings have been razed. The 300-foot-wide, 75-foot-long pit (91 m × 23 m) was made up of a 50-foot-deep strip mine (15 m) that had been cleared by Edward Whitney in 1935, and came very close to the northeast corner of Odd Fellows Cemetery. Along with The Dying Miner, Guthrie wrote two other songs regarding the 1947 disaster: "Waiting at the Gate" (from the perspective of a miner's son); and "Talking Centralia" (also known as "Talking Miner"). Eight men were rescued, but one died from the effects of afterdamp. It is possible that this hole led to the mine fire, as it provided a pathway to the labyrinth of old mines under the borough. [9], Preceding an August 6 meeting at the fire site which would include officials from the LVCC and the Susquehanna Coal Company, Deputy Secretary of Mines James Shober Sr. expected that the representatives would inform him they could not afford mounting a project that would stop the mine fire. In response, Secretary Evans approved an additional $14,000 (roughly equivalent to $117,240 in 2019) to fund this project. She noted that borough council minutes from June 4, 1962, referred to two fires at the dump, and that five firefighters had submitted bills for "fighting the fire at the landfill area". Even then, the Centralia council still allowed the dumping of garbage into the pit. However, flames were seen once more on May 29. You consent to our cookies if you continue to use our website. The third plan was a "total and concerted flushing project" larger than the second project's flushing and costing $82,300. [1] The Mine Safety and Health Administration of the United States Department of Labor reported the explosion was caused when an underburdened shot or blown-out shot ignited coal dust. [18], The Centralia mine fire also extended beneath the town of Byrnesville, a few miles to the south. CENTRALIA MINE DISASTERCENTRALIA MINE DISASTER. Following the disaster, John L. Lewis, president of the United Mine Workers, called a two-week national memorial work stoppage on 400,000 soft-coal miners. Infrasound Can Detect Tornadoes an Hour Before They Form. David DeKok says that the bourough's deliberate burning of trash on May 27 to clean up the landfill in the former strip mine ignited a coal seam via an unsealed opening in the trash pit, which allowed the fire to enter the labyrinth of abandoned coal mines beneath Centralia. [7], The Centralia Council sent a letter to the Lehigh Valley Coal Company (LVCC) as formal notice of the fire. [10] At one point, work was at a standstill for five days during the Labor Day weekend in early September.[why? The Centralia mine fire is a coal-seam fire that has been burning underneath the borough of Centralia, Pennsylvania, United States, since at least May 27, 1962. The plume of hot steam billowing from the hole was measured as containing a lethal level of carbon monoxide. [22], The fire and its effects were featured in 2013 on America Declassified on the Travel Channel, and on Radiolab's Cities episode. Halker also recorded his version of "New Made Graves of Centralia" for his CD Don't Want Your Millions (Revolting Records, 2000). Tests concluded that the gases seeping from the large hole in the pit wall and from cracks in the north wall contained carbon monoxide concentrations typical of coal-mine fires. George Segaritus, a regional landfill inspector who worked for the Department of Mines and Mineral Industries (DMMI), became concerned about the pit when he noticed holes in the walls and floor, as such mines often cut through older mines underneath. Nonetheless, the Centralia council set a date and hired five members of the volunteer firefighter company to clean up the landfill. Its original cause is still a matter of debate. Funding for the project ran out on March 15, 1963, with a total cost of $42,420[1] (roughly equivalent to $355,250 in 2019). Winter weather caused the water supply lines to freeze. Kashner evaluated the events and called Gordon Smith, an engineer of the Department of Mines and Mineral Industries (DMMI) office in Pottsville. [7], Another hypothesis arose from the letter sent to the Lehigh Valley Coal Company by the Centralia Council in the days after the mine fire was noticed. At the time of the explosion, 142 men were in the mine; 65 were killed by burns and other injuries and 45 were killed by afterdamp. Smith told the town that he could dig out the smoldering material using a steam shovel for $175. This allowed the hot coals to penetrate the vein of coal underneath the pit and light the subsequent subterranean fire. Its original cause is still a matter of debate. In the letter, the borough described the starting of a fire "of unknown origin during a period of unusually hot weather". The Centralia mine fire is a coal-seam fire that has been burning underneath the borough of Centralia, Pennsylvania, United States, since at least May 27, 1962.

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