Centralia, Pennsylvania

Basic Information

Centralia, Pennsylvania is a former town in Pennsylvania. There are significant coal deposits below the town, which started to burn when local firefighters were careless when burning garbage near a mine in 1962. The fire spread underground, and continued to burn even to this day. The locals learned of the scope of the problem in 1979, and the United States Congress funded relocation efforts in 1984. The state of Pennsylvania claimed eminent domain on all properties within the borough in 1992.

See Also

• Event/News: The Town That Won't Stop Burning - possibly connected, as the town experiencing the arsons is only 85 miles away from Centralia.

Sources

Bibliography

1. A Pennsylvania community consumed by an underground mine fire.

2. Wikipedia entry

Game and Story Use

• Adventure Seed: The Fires of the Deep

• The fire might not have been caused by the careless burning of garbage, but by supernatural entities made out of fire.
  • Even if it wasn't caused by such entities, the fire could certainly attract them - and they could reach the surface to attack humans, especially if someone tries a new high-tech approach for extinguishing the fire.
• This is certainly one of the more spectacular ghost towns, and might attract doomsday cults.