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Centralia - Hell on Earth - Town destroyed by ever burning coal mines
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- čas přidán 1. 12. 2017
- A 1982 (The only video 'WHILE IT"S HAPPENING!') 16mm film documenting a Pennsylvania town eroding away from out of control burning of underground coal mines since 1962.
The Town that Was is a great documentary about this.
I love how the guy in the beginning says, "how the fire started is of no importance any more". Technically he's correct, but the FACT is the fire was started by the TOWN Fire department when they burned the dump, attempting to clean up for Memorial day 1961. This fire was no accident, it was started deliberately, and spread to the exposed coal seam quickly. The fire should have been DUG OUT of the coal seam immediately, not waiting around 10 months for someone else to do something about it.
Sometimes though such sense is not seen until we look back or until things such as these have happened, but on that note I would also say so it never happens again...but knowing the human race it probably will.
Exactly right. The town started the town fire. This town prides itself on knowing coal yet they started a fire next to the biggest coal reserve in the country then had no idea how to put out the coal fire.
We were there a few weeks ago exploring and it still is emitting fumes and the smell is aweful. It breaks my heart to see what happened to that town
Is there anyone left?, a few years ago it said there were around 7 people left.
Tom Larkin nailed it. "...in 20 years maybe, there will be no Centralia."
Tom Larkin passed away around 2012. He fought so hard for Centralia and it was all for naught. So sad. Centralia is the kind of community I want to retire in, but it's permanently lost
Remarkable short film. I didn't know this film existed and I got involved with Centralia the year after I returned to Philly from the west coast in 1985 which was when the final death blow was occurring with the town. Very sad.
loge10 how did you get involved? I like to help
I should clarify that when I said I was involved, I really meant emotionally. When I discovered the place the town still have many of it's houses and buildings but was in the process of demolition. I would drive out there and see as what had been the town dwindled. By the mid-90s it was almost all gone except for the residents who refused to move but even some of them had to leave eventually. I still visit occasionally.
About how you can help, about 4 years ago a group, Eastern PA Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation, started an annual clean up of the area (there's no town now) usually in October (a nice time of year to be in that area). Since the creation of the "graffittee highway" on the old portion of rt 61, many people have come out (usually young people with no interest in the history of the area), and litter has been on the increase. Their website is epcamr.org. You can check them out closer to the time and see what they have planned. They also have other volunteer activities.
I am Albert F. Bolognese and I produced this film in 1982.
@@classicsportspictures9880 thank you so much. Greets from Germany. Have a good Christmas time. 🍀♥️🙏🏻
@@classicsportspictures9880 I didn't see your comment till now- thank you for posting. It is a great document of the tragic time.
The statement being made @ 6:15 is so true. It reminds me of one of my favorite quotes: "Change only happens when the people who are unaffected are just as outraged as the people who are."
Centralia Mine Fire: 1962 - it's a week from 2018, and it's still burning.
The borough didn't collapse into itself. All attempts to contain/extinguish the fire have ceased. The zip code has been revoked.
It's sad to see what once was, and seeing what it is now.
Jen Griffiths I'm like hook on reading about this. It's crazy under ground can burn for so long coal or not.I just bought a house in treverton and I've been trying to find this and can't. Can you please take me on a tour through it
Jen Griffiths also I'm trying to find the abandoned train tunnel . I've been all through the trails,it's behind Walmart somewhere I'm guessing. It's just hard to get there from our house because Aoaa has gates everywhere
Just follow 61 all the way to Mt Carmel. When you go over the viaduct in Mt Carmel, turn left directly after it. Go down that main street (the Ave). There will be a sign near the end to turn right to follow 61. Go to the second traffic light (Turkey Hill and Dollar General will be on the right), and turn left. Follow that little highway, and it'll take you right to Centralia.
Also, abandoned train tunnel?
Jen Griffiths okay thank you I will try that by road,I have always tried to find it by Trail.
There's an abandoned railroad tunnel,it's on CZcams but doesn't tell you how to get there I will try to find the link and post it up here for you.
And they currently estimate that it could burn for another 250 years.
This is a great look at Centralia's fight of the coal mine fire at that time, the sad and tragic part about it is Centralia was lost anyway.💔💔💔💔
Thanks for posting this great documentary.
Florence Chestnut I
Chilling final words... "....in 20 years, there will be no Centralia." And sadly, they were right.
Spoiler alert
3:33 Joan Girolami and her family eventually moved out of Centralia. An online search today revealed she sadly passed away in 2014 at her home in Florida.
She always struck me as a remarkable woman. She's featured in a photo essay on this called "Slow Burn" which really got to me back in 1985 which started regular drive to the town as it was disappearing (I'm in Philadelphia). There is a very poignant photo of her sitting on the floor of her empty living room has she was moving out, and others of her being very passionate on some of the town meetings on the situation.
I went shortly before they closed and bulldozed graffiti highway and blocked all access to explore. I fell through with my left foot when the ground opened up. My husband grabbed my arm and pulled me up just as my right foot went through. We went back to the car and drove over to the cemetery. That’s the only spot still open. It breaks my heart. I loved going there as a kid.
I have a 2nd cousin who was born and raised in Centralia. My mother was from Ashland and I remember when Centralia was a town and not a ghost town. So sad.
I've been watching these documentaries for the last couple of weeks. It's so sad how these hard working tax paying folks was treated like shit. The government couldn't care less about these folks health safety. It's still going on to this day horrible horrible horrible selfish people running this world.
Say it louder from atop ur soap box
This was eerie!!well done film.
I'd like to add a comment to clarify the dates the fires started. I was born and raised in Mt Carmel 3 miles west of Centralia on Rt 61. I left Mt. Carmel in 1955 when I was 9 years old and the cosl mines closed and my father lost his job.
The mine fires were raging long before I left Mt Carmel and the smoke and heat from the ground was evident. I remember talk of pumping water to put the firrs out.
If the Mt. Camel has archives I'm sure it would back date the time condiderably. I was in 11th grade in high school in 1962 long removed ftom the area.
If someone had access to The Mt Carmel Item from those years they could pin the date down better.
Hello Jim, I noticed you mentioned both Mt. Carmel and Centraila in your post. My grandfather, Joseph Lavelle, was born in Mt. Carmel and grew up on Centraila and I was wondering if you knew him! I’m his granddaughter, Jessica.
So...the Fire started before 1962 or what?
@@mariomatteopapetti3221 it started before 1952. I left Mt Carmel in 1954 and it was raging by then.
The person who spoke the last sentence in the film called it. It's a shame.
There are maybe two houses left. And the borough building. It's very interesting to see buildings,etc. This film was good. When the last resident is gone,the government will suddenly put the fire out.
Pretty cool.. Also cool seeing my brother mike and I believe his friend also named mike at the end👍👍
It's so sad how a nice town is practically disappearing even though there's a few residents there. The homes were beautiful. I think about the children and families who really enjoyed and liked living there. I saw the church in another video.
There’s a happy side to it though. For those who do remember Centralia as the happy and close knit community, it still remains that way in their memories. I don’t know if you’re familiar with the area at all, but the towns that surround it are crumbling and are no longer not the happy close community towns that they once were before the coal companies pulled out. If the fire never happened, Centralia would likely have suffered the same decline and decay as the rest of Schuylkill County.
There was a comment made by one couple that when the bore holes were drilled near their home they originally tested at 54 degrees. Some time later one tested at 300 degrees and the other at 600 degrees. It would be hugely ironic if the bore holes directed the fire by providing air.
Hugely ironic and stated as fact by one documentary.
That is a good point, but the boreholes were necessary to reach the level of the mine fire in/around the property in order to check the temperature, which was what they were studying and recording at that time (1969 and 1978/1979).
It's not like they left the bore holes open, dum dum.
I agree with the believe that the government doesn't want to put out the fire until they can own the property and then can sell the area to a coal company to mine it. Makes sense to me.
These great American people ,and town got screwed over by the government ..You can go there today ,and except for certain areas this town should have remained to the people ,and in fact the former property owners should all be given their land back now to make it right for the horrific tragedy which the government caused these American people .
When I was a young boy in the late '50s we drove around the area where my mom grew up in EC IL near the IN border a ways NW of Danville. There was a smoking roadside bank near a country road. Mom told me it was a smoldering peat fire that was burning when she was a kid in the '20s and was still burning 30 years later. I haven't been back since the mid-70s but it was still burning then.
seems like all those bore holes would work like intakes for oxygen to feed the fire
I know the town has completely now no one left but your right those bore holes were put in on purpose to feed the fire oxygen now the goverment can go in and open cast the whole area and get the coal out for it's value
@@joearkle1327 yes, think so too
As usual the US government cries about not having enough money when it comes to helping its own.
They help banks and big companies survive. So, it's best to vote out those that doesn't help.
Ukraine needs dat money.
this looks like it was filmed in the 50's
I love how during the town meeting about the city being on fire from underground, there are multiple people smoking in the building.
Everyone in every town pretty much smoked back then.
What I want to know is.. how that match holding firefighter felt after the fact and was he left to live to tell about it.
They are covering Graffiti Highway, if they havent already. Only Two residences still exist in Centralia. Its pretty sad that had to happen.
I'm glad they buried Graffiti Highway.
I feel bad for what the people of Centralia went through. I feel bad about what happened to the town.
Wikipedia says the fire is still burning. It also suggested that the fire could continue for 250 years!
no way to 250 years. Once the final 5 residents are gone the land owner will invest money to put out the fire and sell the remaining coal. Why wouldn't they?
Perhaps much longer! The Mount Wingen coal seam fire in Australia has been burning for 6000 years and the Brennender Berg fire in German has been burning since the 17th century.
My house was taken over by eminent domain for a federal highway project. That was in 2009. No big deal...
I'm writing a novel inspired by this town
This is why you need to enact and create wet zones during controlled fires. You need at least a mile of a wet zone in all directions radially outward from the fire. It's now inevitable and inescapable that the northeastern sandwich zone states will need to be evacuated because of the unextinguished anthrocite coalmine fire spreading.
Nonsense, the coal seams aren't connected.
Ooh, I remember this story.
The fire in the dump was set on fire by the city officials! They were getting ready for Memorial Day in 1962 and many people would be visiting the Odd Fellows cemetery close to the dump. They didn't want them to deal with the smell of the trash so they burned it down a bit and then had the fire dept. put out the fire but the fire kept burning deep in the trash and eventually spread to the mine. The dump was located in an abandoned strip mine hole!! So, the genesis of the fire IS important. If you live on top of coal mines and seams and tunnels, do not start fires on the surface!
this will still be relevant in 250 years. I think that smoke will travel to surrounding states. Its that serious
Centralia is a place that gives warmth, a place that makes many certain for the needs of their people/citizen. This should be the time for CENTRALIA to be the source of power to the States. It is going to provide the needs of certainty for the whole states. It needs to be restored for the healthier/renewable source as Geothermal power/renewable power does for its people. SMEs.....2022 onwards.
I wanna know how far the fire has spread. I live in a really small city with 5,000 people, so its probably a tiny area unless it keeps spreading.
I cant find how far its speading, and ive done a lot of research
I know exactly how small that town was I live in a town with a population of 1100 people upstate New York and I cannot imagine if this happened where I lived and one day come back and it’s just all gone and all your memories are gone with it
Pyramid Head brought me here.
Fire department set it on fire. Epic.
Garbage produces heat when it breaks down/Rots and that can cause a fire by itself. Why would the fire department do this? Explain your comment please it looks very retarded.
In 1962, burning garbage was a common practice. They didn't have the environmental laws or knowledge of climate change that we have today. Even in 1982, at the time they were filming this documentary, a lot of people had burning barrels in their backyards. My grandparents used to burn their garbage in burning barrels in 1982; I remember that well. It was also a common practice in 1962 and in 1982 for a fire department to set controlled burns to practice their firefighting skills. In fact, controlled burns are still common today.
I live 30 minutes away been there many times
There's no fire. Just ignore the smoke, steam and toxic gases filling your house.
kewl movie, never heard about this, and I live in Ohio.
The coffee cup at 14:14 shows that although they knew it was bad then they expected to end before the 21st century 😞
How many square feet is centralia?
Google states that Centralia Square Feet is 6.67 million ft²
4:00 Looks like the apples didn't fall far from the tree...
multiple vents in the earth to keep a continuous stream of oxygen on the fire........
serious???? I will look for the movie but doubt I can find it or at least the lady..... My real name is Doris.. hope that isn't part of it too.. thanks for telling me, if you can find a image I would love to see it. very curious now
okay.... a name helps. thanks
I found her..... in real life very little resemblance. But I see where you could think that. This picture of me is at age 63. And somewhat souped up by my daughter using an app. I look horrible now but was actually pretty in my early years.
Yes I knew you meant my profile picture. And thank you
Bore holes, government made oxygen vents.
I met David lamb Riding moto cross ❌ bikes and he invited me up to go. Riding with the clan .lol minas crew I met Todd Dom broski in Mt Carmel and knew Mr lamb . The speed shop ! And met many people and Loved them all like family. Great people but the mine fire destroyed the town and ppl
This is amazing to watch to contrast with the total indoctrination crap that passes for "journalism" today. First of all it looks so dated but it's within most of our lifetimes. Secondly the town people being interviewed, even though they are not "well educated" in the college snob sense, are all articulate and well spoken and they control their own words. Interviews today with people on the street treat the interviewees like children to be coached on the exact point that the news crew wants made. And the film follows the facts - there isn't a wall of blather to tell you how you should think. This film shows how much integrity our system has lost and how dumbed down common people in the US have become. We're a shadow of the 1982 US, even with its faults.
Interesting...but how long will this fire last?
It could burn for 100 years
I've Heard Different Number's 250 yrs-300 Yrs either way it anit going out anytime soon.
@jasontodd2647 Not far from my hometown.
Souvenir Centrali Mine Fire 1962 - 19- More like to 2162 and then some
Was it really necessary for the government to tear down the town.
If they did nothing and years later people started dying off rapidly other people would have blamed the government for doing nothing.
Sinkholes were popping up in peoples yard includiding one a kid almost fell into, and basements were filling with carbon monoxide. What would you have done?
Similar to the Downfall of Times Beach Missouri
22:00 Ed Kemper?
czcams.com/video/cnjrCDThjVo/video.html
6:10
Wow insurance fraud must be just starting. That caller shows a con artist at work.
I’m moving there
It’s a hot 🥵 place 😅😅😅
Good ole Tommy Larkin !
If you think that's bad you should have lived in wales before the 21st century
Yup, James Watts nothing more need be said.
In other similiar videos, theres no scots-Irish people
@0:53 He seems more modern. Like he should be in color.
This was a film made in a time where film was in color, but also very expensive. The only thing is this was filmed by a local college student at the expense of the college. They didn't want to spend the extra money for color film. At least we have a black and white version.
All about the amount of coal still available .Look no further.
The firefighters started the fire is what ive read
True Life Average Jane Vlog Accidentally burning the dump so it wouldn't smell during the Labor Day parade. The coal vein under the dump ignited.
gov must have felt there was uranium there...... wanted the land
13:13 "We burn Coal" I'll say!!!
To emotional involved wow
We are the government we are here to help ………..
funny thing is the government says oh we're claiming this land its unsafe . Now the government owns thousands of acres of top quality ground that is made of anthracite coal , which just happens to be one of the highest quality coals . I feel like the gov purposely allowed this to get out of control or claimed it was out of control so they could take the land and make billions of dollars off of it . I live near Centralia , we visit frequently on our scooters . the place isn't bad i don't see why everyone had to leave . Hell the fire is mostly burned out and what little fire that does still exists is passed Centralia . Ive always thought it was fishy i don't know why , Hell the area even has a weird awkward vibe now lol .
Joshua
So did the government actually generate those billions you talking about? Because it doesn't seem like!
Let me guess.... you also believe that 9/11 was an inside job, don't you?
A new Pearl Harbor and bldg 7...
Joshua
you may have a point ..want to own it and sell it for billions .
Wouldn't most of the coal have burned? Just sayin'.
Joshua Look at this area from Google Earth. It doesn't look like the government is making billions of dollars by taking over that area. How do you mine coal that's on fire? Your conspiracy theory is full of holes.
I think that soon or late the fires Will extinguish...the coal Will run out, nothing is forever
You're right...add at least 200 years to that lol...sad
I have to laugh about all the citizens blaming and accusing the government. ARE they blaming their own town leaders who started this fire and failed to put it out? No. THey expect the feds to come in to rescue them. Why? Why is this a federal problem? Or even a state problem for that matter. "Oh my", cries one resident, "the government will only give me $17k for my home!!!" Did he ever stop to ask himself why he expects the state or feds to bail him out of a problem created by himself and his own neighbors? There should have been a class action lawsuit brought against the borough and their insurance made to cough us to buy up the properties at a fair market value.
Nash1a , I thought the same thing. Why were they assuming the state or the feds should fix what used to be their problem.
I also noticed when watching these films these people all seem to be in denial about what risks were there as the fire burned.
Well. its very hard to conceive of your home town turning against you. And not everyone was directly effected except by living close to an area of danger. "Subsidence" is such a nice word that means the ground could collapse out from under you at any time. There are signs there now that warn about "subsidence". And I suppose not knowing just how much coal had burned, the engineers probably didn't know if anywhere in the town was actually safe.
I was 8 in 1982.. I can remember all the arguing about relocation or staying. I lived more in center of town.. We never had problems with gasses or cave ins. If we got a south wind we can smell sulfer. We moved in 1987 when i was 13 and the fire still wasnt a threat except for a very small section on park street... Today, vegetation and folliage is flourishing once again in parts of town. Now thanks to the internet, we have idiot tourists vandalizing our old town and thinking its haunted. What a joke. For those here commenting on what they think they know.. U dont know s#&t unless u lived here.. Btw.. We moved just 6 miles away
@@leftykindle6747 I agree with you. I can't understand their urges today to vandalize historical places and to be disrespectful to the remaining Centralia residents. It makes me angry.
Centralia was once a beautiful, thriving small town with a rich history. II can't speak for Centralians because I don't know them, but I have a feeling that if everyone took an interest in the non-fire history of the town, the residents would happily talk about the businesses that they frequented, about the architecture of their homes, radio stations that they listened to, etc. Too much information exists on the mine fire, but not enough about the history of the town and its people.
Centralia mine fire 1962-2023 and beyond!!! I'm sorry but the ignorance of some of the people that lived there is unbelievable! You live on top of coal mine tunnels there is fire in them, it is moving and it has almost an endless supply of fuel to eat through. It is a very small borough. If there is danger in part of it soon it will be all of it and beyond!!! That is common sense.
Kaptain Kangaroo!
I had to laugh when Mrs. Girolami said,"...and nobody in their right mind would burn charcoal in their house..." (17:45). Fast forward to the year 2020, and there are a lot of idiots that would burn charcoal in the house without even batting an eye. Unfortunately, gone are the days of common sense.
Yeah, no one would ever use corn wood, charcoal, or coal as fuel for heat within their house or to heat their stoves prior to this all taking place. 🤣🤣🤣🤦🤦🤦
The only thing missing is the Polka music?
Obviously the film what inspired silent hill this documentary is creepy enough.
You would think that after all these years someone would have come up with something to put this out? All you hear is all the complaints about climate change but nothing is being done to stop this?
How it caught on fire is a major embarrassment to the drunken firemen.
Why is in black and white if filmed in the 80s
This was a college school project. Color film was much more expensive than black and white. That's one way the college kept production costs down for students. It's better we have this in black and white than not at all.
Dean: I am Albert F. Bolognese and I produced this film in 1982. Ray, who transferred this film for me is right. Film for a college student plus developing was costly. With B & W saved money plus Temple University did not have color developing capabilities.
@@albertbolognese9714 Thank you for your hard work then and willingness to transfer and share the film with Ray now! The story of Centralia has fascinated me for a long while... your film taught me many new things. One of the few reliable sources of information I found before this was John Lokitis and Tom Larkin in "The Town that Was."
@@DanKidsYouNot Tom Larkin was instrumental in providing information about the town and fire.
Evil goverment
How the fire started isn’t important any more.
Sure buddy lol
It was started by the town's fire department. Job failed.
your own GOV cause the fire.
Point?
It was started by burning trash in a landfill. A bad decision indeed but not the action of our 'GOV'.
Township government. Lets be clear. It was a stupid practice!
Burning trash in a landfill was a common practice in 1962. The practice was to incinerate the old garbage to make way for the incoming garbage, or burn the old garbage, cover the landfill with dirt, and start a new landfill in a different location. It wasn't that people were idiots back then, but rather a lack of the knowledge that we have today.
I'm not getting the impression that Centralians were blaming the government for starting the fire. I've always been under the impression that, because the borough was always short of cash to fight the fire in the early 1960s, Centralia residents approached the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for assistance with fighting the mine fire. Bureaucratic red tape followed, a misunderstanding of how to successfully fight an Anthracite coal fire ensued, and before a consensus could be reached on how to fight the fire, it was too late to save the physical existence of the town. From that point, residents were angry at the Commonwealth for not taking their concerns seriously. Centralians were also angry at each other; some parts of town had to deal with the mine fire gasses and subsidence around their homes, while other parts had no subsidence or toxic gasses. Each side of the town was against the other for either "blowing the seriousness out of proportion", or for "not taking the fire seriously". Again, this is the impression that I'm receiving from the information presented in books and in documentaries about the mine fire.
Not great, not terrible. Could be worse, could be Chernobyl.
Anytime you use phrases like (government help, government knows, experts, etc.) I IMPLORE you to watch this and other documentaries on Centralia...living proof that government is the problem not the solution to a prosperous society and family community.
So u mean to tell me that the citizens on their own and with their own funds could have stopped all this from taking place?