Today in History - May 27: Out-of-control fire under small town expected to burn for centuries

After years as an underground trash dump, a disused mine shaft in Centralia, Pennsylvania had become a foul-smelling haven for vermin.

So on May 27, 1962, the fire department in the small town decided to set it on fire.

Unfortunately for the town, the fire reached a labyrinth of coal seams under the town that caught alight.

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And in the decades since, the fire continues to burn underneath the town.

The problem of an odorous hole in the ground became a much larger issue, with a massive underground blaze emitting toxic gases throughout the area.

After countless efforts to douse the fire, the efforts, and then the town itself, was abandoned.

There was so much coal under Centralia that the fire began to make the ground unstable, as the fossil fuel was destroyed.

Sinkholes began to form around the town, with one 12-year-old nearly killed falling down a 50m hole that suddenly formed in his backyard in 1981.

In 1984, most of the residents of Centralia accepted buyout offers to relocate elsewhere.

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And in 1992, the governor of Pennsylvania placed eminent domain orders on all property in the town, and condemned them all.

Now just four people live in the town, down from 1435 in 1960.

It remains open to the public though.

A Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the town remains open and continues to draw in congregants for regular services.

Because the church is built on rock rather than coal, it has been unaffected by the unstable ground.

The fire is expected to keep burning for hundreds of years.

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