Underground Coal Fire

Guest: Glenn Stracher, Ph.D., Professor at East Georgia State College   When visiting the site of Centralia, Pennsylvania, it’s hard to believe that there used to be a bustling coal-town of nearly 1,000 residents that once resided there. The streets that were once filled with passing cars and busy people are now cracked and overgrown, and the buildings that line them are boarded up and rotting away. An unnerving layer of smoke and smog rises from the ground, much like a scene in a horror film. Centralia—in a sense—is a ghost town, caused by the very substance that kept the town thriving—coal. Underneath Centralia is a massive coal fire that’s been burning for over half a century and doesn’t seem to die out any time soon.