Cool video. The
re sure isn't much left these days. We used to 4 wheel in the area. The fire as I have always been told, was a dump fire that went into an open pit mine and started the seam on fire. Coal fires are very difficult to contain. They tried to dig trenches to stop it but the old shafts were interconnected and the fire went on uncontrolled and still is today. I was surprised there was no smoke wafting from the crack. I though everyone was finally forced out but there sure seemed to be a lot of action there that day. I was also surprised to see there were still some of the half duplexes left standing. I thought they were tearing them all down. If you look you'll see several skinny houses that are flat on one side. There was a passionate bunch of hold outs for many years. They stayed in their half of the duplex while the other half was torn down (eventually there was a government buyout).
Here is a quote from the web on the cause...
On May 27, 1962, the firefighters, as they had in the past, set the dump on fire and let it burn for some time. Unlike in previous years, however, the fire was not fully extinguished. An unsealed opening in the pit allowed the fire to enter the labyrinth of abandoned coal mines beneath Centralia.
And a quote from a 1988 story referring to the half houses...
John Yokemick decided to keep his half of the twin on E. Center Street, but his next-door neighbor sold to the state.
When it came time to demolish the state's half, there was only one choice - cut the house in half.
With most of its housing stock either twins or row homes, tearing one side down and leaving the other standing has become routine in Centralia.
Yokemick, whose house was one of the first affected, said the contractor has done a good job. The exposed side was insulated and sided with aluminum, then reinforced with steel I-beams encased in brick.