

The Smoldering Ruins of Centralia (2006) - Twirrim
http://www.damninteresting.com/the-smoldering-ruins-of-centralia/

======
chris_overseas
Fascinating. It's hard to even comprehend an underground coal fire that could
burn for 250 years - though apparently the oldest known coal seam fire has
been burning in Australia for 6000 years!
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_Mountain](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_Mountain)

Centralia on Google Maps:
[https://www.google.com/maps/@40.8006547,-76.3428604,287m/dat...](https://www.google.com/maps/@40.8006547,-76.3428604,287m/data=!3m1!1e3)

------
reustle
I grew up about an hour from here. It's a fun place to hang out, but isn't
really smoking like it used to. If you get up there early on a cool day you
can find some warm cracks with smoke coming out, but that's about it.

~~~
allworknoplay
Yeah, the story is great, but it's pretty uninteresting to actually visit.
It's definitely one of those places that people like to justify their trip to
by sharing pictures of the one actual smoking hole they found and saying it's
amazing.

------
frik
I learnt about it and coal seam fires in general the other day from Wikipedia.
Coal seam fires more common than I thought.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal_seam_fire](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal_seam_fire)

------
meesterdude
I Watched a documentary about some of the people that still live there.
Probably one of the most boring documentaries I've ever watched. I've watched
documentaries on the history of indoor plumbing that were more interesting.

Still, pretty crazy.

~~~
jballanc
As the grandson of a plumber and son of a plumbing engineer, just have to jump
in here and defend plumbing...it's damn interesting! It's also responsible for
a larger chunk of recent increases in longevity than probably anything other
than maybe antibiotics.

~~~
earleybird
"what have the Romans ever done for us"

------
s_q_b
If you do visit, it's an interesting post-apocalyptic world. Explore a little
bit to the southeast of the old town and you'll find a locked shed, untouched,
with a very old car inside and a sign boarding up the back window that says,
"The dying set free the souls in Purgatory."

Avoid the few remaining natives, as they're understandably territorial and
suspicious since they're living there in defiance of a court order.

------
hauget
I was there in 2008. I went there because I'm a fan of the Silent Hill series
and read somewhere that the town in the game was inspired by it. The place
smells like sulphur, kinda like what you find near volcanoes. Roads are
cracked, bark on trees has turned white and yes, you can sometimes light a
match if you leave it on the ground. It's a very isolated place too. I
wouldn't recommend going alone.

------
morganwatch
Been there, theres not a lot to see beyond the fire station and a memorial to
veterans. I first heard about it in an article about the movie Silent Hill and
how the producers discovered a town that was covered in fog like the fictional
city. There is actually a pretty cool This American Life episode about it:
[http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-
archives/episode/59/fi...](http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-
archives/episode/59/fire)

------
thorfish
That is very eery. Reminds me of Aktemto Mine in Dragon Warrior 4. Any heroes
want to volunteer to investigate what has awoken in the deep?

