New Straitsville, Ohio -
117-Year Old Mine Fire

To quote from a page about this mining town, "In 1884 , the coal miner's union and the mining companies clashed. some miners became so angry that they put timbers in coal cars, soaked them with oil, ignited them, and pushed them into the mine on Plummer Hill. The coal caught fire and no one was able to extinguish it. Millions of dollars worth of coal burned up. As the coal burnt out under the ground, roads collapsed and flames shot out of the ground. One water well was so hot that you could make coffee directly with water drawn from the well. Smoke and steam were visible from many crevices. The area became a tourist attraction especially after Ripley's Believe It or Not, a popular radio program, made a broadcast from New Straitsville." Hard to locate today, but there are supposedly places in the outlying woods which remain lush and green even under heavy snowfall. A cop I asked was unsure exactly how to get to the fire. [Andy (Forgotten Ohio), 04/01/2001]