The Smoking Crack in Route 61 at Centralia, PA

Centralia, PA has had an underground coal mine fire burning out of control since 1962. This section of 61 has been closed for years due to buckling and cracking. This is unedited footage of the highway as of August 2007. The damage has gotten much worse since I first saw it in 2005.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Centralia
• fire
• coal
• mine
• abandoned
• highway

[BoyintheMachine]

Can someone tell me how this underground fire gets enough oxygen to burn? I don't understand that aspect of it. From just looking at it I would assume it was volcanic in nature.

[fropvd]

The coal seams tend to run at angles underground and in places they come to the surface. As the fire continues to burn, it follows there seams and when it reaches the surface, this provides an opening to supply additional oxygen. In essence, the fire is creating its own vents by following the path of the coal itself.

[fropvd]

Well nda, I hope this what you had in mind rather than the other kind of crack. ;)

There are other fissures or cracks in the road there as well, but this is the largest one.

[lokatiza]

thanks for the vid im really intrested please tell me where this is as im going to ozz for a backpacking trip.....hope me well i dont get murderd out there

[fropvd]

*lol* I highly doubt you'll get murdered. This is in Centralia, PA which is near Ashland and Frackville. If you follow route 61 from Ashland you will come to a spot where the road bends to the right. There is a big mound of dirt and some warning signs. Pull over and walk over the mound to get to the abandoned section of 61. The most dramatic damage is up that road a bit.

[BoyintheMachine]

Thank You. Very Interesting. My father told me about this place a long time ago and I'm nowhere near PA.

[audioslavelover]

oh! i though you said "Smoking Crack" not "The smoking crack"" You shouldn't do drugs, mmmkay? drugs are bad. You shouldn't do drugs because drugs are bad. Mmnmmmmkay?

[ncshuriken]

The smoking of crack in route 61, where all crackheads coalesce underground secretly, and have been for 50 years, which is the cause of the smoke rising from gaps in the surrounding areas.

[pronatalist]

To BoyintheMachine:

Also subsidence of the land, as the coal burns up, causes sinking and cracking, insuring new vents always opening up. The intense hot gases are less dense weightwise than the oxygen rich air outside, so they rise up, and new oxygen sinks in. A candle in a glass tube, open on the top, works in a similar way.

The underground coal fires are generally out-of-control, unreachable, and nearly impossible to control, so it's usually far cheaper to let them grow wild naturally.

[krishaas2000]

I live 5 min from Centralia, There are many areas you can go and actually see the glowing red hot amber . But you wont find it in this spot. The Smell of Sulfer is really bad .. like rotten eggs. This town really is no big deal. I drive threw it every day to get to bloomsburg.

[Obviously]

It's not as interesting as it sounds.

[SettleForNothing]

Ditto.

[lokatiza]

cheers mate