Centralia, Pennsylvania: Centralia Mine Fire

Centralia Mine Fire

Coal veins burning since 1961, almost all of the buildings and people are gone. Unsafe ground, noxious gases -- be careful. Roadsideamerica.com Report...

Centralia, Pennsylvania - Party's Over On Post-Apocalyptic Highway

Centralia Mine Fire: Since the early 1990s, a three-quarter mile stretch of Pennsylvania Highway 61 has been closed because the ground beneath it is on fire. [02/26/2017] Complete Story...

Centralia Mine Fire

Bloomsburg locals told me that policing has ended. Municipal building has Centralia post boxes, police sign, and inside the door you can see a cool "Keep Centralia on the Map" sticker. Back near the smaller graveyard you can see where original fire started. There are five large exhaust vent pipes. Roads in the town have been cleared and at least three fortress homes survive. Graffiti highway is a solid 3/4 mile of simple but colorful tags. Church up on the hill is in good form. Silent Hill movie ripped off the look. My 3rd trip over the years and it appears the town is more openly accessible than ever.

Careful not to get hit by off-road vehicles that travel undeterred. Great story! Great adventure. Do your background homework and you will find a well-documented historic tragedy. Nothing to fear here. It's safe!

[Matt, 05/03/2018]

Centralia Mine Fire

It's an interesting place to visit, especially if you research the story before heading out. There's a lot of vulgar graffiti on the closed highway itself. They did start to issue trespassing violations with fines this past year if you are caught on the closed highway section.

[Jill, 04/12/2018]

Centralia Mine Fire

My uncle grew up in Girardville (not far from Centralia). I remember visiting the graffiti highway as a small child and watching smoke rise up out of the ground. I haven't been in a long while, but my aunt and uncle say that the mine fire has moved on, and is now burning underneath the town of Mount Carmel.

State police will now cite anyone on graffiti highway for trespassing. Recently, 8 people were cited for riding ATV's on graffiti highway. Trespassing fees in PA are no less than $250, so be careful!

[Ben Perdue, 03/29/2017]