https://www.earthmagazine.org/tags/centralia/ Recent content in Centralia on EARTH Magazine Hugo en-US American Geosciences Institute. All rights reserved. Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500 https://www.earthmagazine.org/article/hot-hell-firefighting-foam-heats-coal-fire-debate-centralia-pa/ Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500 https://www.earthmagazine.org/article/hot-hell-firefighting-foam-heats-coal-fire-debate-centralia-pa/ <figure class="earth-figure"> <img src="https://www.americangeosciences.org/static/earth/hot-hell-firefighting-foam-heats-coal-fire-debate-centralia-pa/i-3ae-7da-5-5.jpg" alt="The fire beneath Centralia, Pa., started burning in 1962. Lisa LaFosse" loading="eager" decoding="async"> <figcaption>The fire beneath Centralia, Pa., started burning in 1962. Lisa LaFosse</figcaption> </figure> <figure class="earth-figure"> <img src="https://www.americangeosciences.org/static/earth/hot-hell-firefighting-foam-heats-coal-fire-debate-centralia-pa/i-3aa-7da-5-5.jpg" alt="No one knows the full extent of the coal fire burning beneath Centralia. Lisa LaFosse" loading="lazy" decoding="async"> <figcaption>No one knows the full extent of the coal fire burning beneath Centralia. Lisa LaFosse</figcaption> </figure> <figure class="earth-figure"> <img src="https://www.americangeosciences.org/static/earth/hot-hell-firefighting-foam-heats-coal-fire-debate-centralia-pa/i-3a8-7da-5-5.jpg" alt="CAFSCO&#39;s foam fills the empty space in a burning mine, snuffing out the fire. Lisa LaFosse" loading="lazy" decoding="async"> <figcaption>CAFSCO&#39;s foam fills the empty space in a burning mine, snuffing out the fire. Lisa LaFosse</figcaption> </figure> <figure class="earth-figure"> <img src="https://www.americangeosciences.org/static/earth/hot-hell-firefighting-foam-heats-coal-fire-debate-centralia-pa/i-3a9-7da-5-5.jpg" alt="Centralia still holds a lot of coal that could be mined if the fires were put out. Lisa LaFosse" loading="lazy" decoding="async"> <figcaption>Centralia still holds a lot of coal that could be mined if the fires were put out. Lisa LaFosse</figcaption> </figure> <p>By some accounts, Hell on Earth is located directly below Centralia, Pa.: Smoke rises from the cracked ground, smoldering sinkholes open without warning, and what is left of the town&rsquo;s abandoned houses and surrounding woodlands is scorched and covered in a layer of smelly sulfur. Once a productive mining town in eastern Pennsylvania&rsquo;s valuable anthracite coal region, Centralia has been reduced to a smoky ghost town, lacking even a zip code, by an underground coal fire that has been burning for nearly 50 years.</p>