I guess there have been several attempts to put the fire out but as you can see they have failed.  The big problem is that the vein of coal goes under several surrounding towns and the only plan that's being talked about is digging a huge trench around the town but the price tag is something like half a billion dollars.



On the other side of the hill is the "Highway To Hell" that's been closed off due to the fire.  The road has buckled and cracked open due to the fire just feet beneath the surface.



Centralia is just messed up.  It was one heck of a surrealistic journey.



Uphill from the highway we found this huge cut.  There were several vents to the fire in the side of it and plenty of coal lying around.  I'm curious if this was from one of the attempts to stop the fire.



There was coal everywhere so Bill and Sam grabbed a few chunks of it as a souvenir and to keep any more of Centralia from burning up.



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Paul B. Drabek