American town burned for 5 decades

Research shows that small town Centralia in Pennsylvania, USA, will continue to burn for another 250 years.

According to Business Insider, the town of Centralia began to burn in 1962. The way flames are still a mystery, but the scientists can explain why the fire is still burning continuously.

Centralia is located on some of the world's largest coal mines . This was a lucky discovery for the town in the nineteenth century because coal was one of the main sources of energy, fueling the Industrial Revolution.

The fire in the town of Centralia has been burning for 50 years.(Photo: Hypescience).

In the 1800s, miners in Centralia opened underground tunnels by blasting for coal mining, but by the middle of the 20th century, many mines were abandoned. No one knows exactly how Centralia's fire rises, but the biggest hypothesis is the burning of garbage on a nearby landfill accidentally burning coal beneath the entrance to the mine. After that, the fire spread along the tunnel through the mines.

Coal formed over millions of years when the marshes were filled with organic matter such as trees, roots, bacteria buried under sand, mud and other natural materials. The pressure on organic matter gradually increases as the upper layer of soil thickens over time, while all the water and compounds from plants and plants are buried, creating coal with the host component. weak is carbon. Carbon accounts for about 40-90% of coal weight.

When carbon inside coal is exposed to oxygen, it burns. Even, the fire happens immediately without the need for another flame near. The tunnels excavated by miners in the 19th century help maintain the fire by drawing oxygen from the ground. The more coal burns, the more the fire penetrates the surrounding area with a maximum depth of 91m.

Coal burns slowly and stably, meaning it takes a long time for it to burn out. Just have enough heat, fuel and oxygen to maintain, the fire will not turn off. That's why the fire that rises from coal mines can burn fiercely for decades.

Centralia is at the tip of an arrow on a Google Map.(Photo: Google Map).

Today, the fire in Centralia covers 15.5 km ² and spreads 23m per year. Researchers predict the fire can continue to burn for 250 years. About 1,000 residents living in Centralia at the time of the new fire appeared at first thought it was only a little inconvenient. But their thoughts changed when sulfur smoke and carbon monoxide began to leak out of the mines, almost suffocating residents. The underground fire also caused the ground to crack, resulting in a pits everywhere.

The town authorities tried to extinguish the fire in vain for many years. They drilled holes into mines and filled sand to block air, but this was not effective. They were forced to stop in the 1980s.

The state government closed Centralia in 1992 and most residents left. Today, only more than a dozen people live there. The town becomes a place to show graffiti by freelance artists. The phenomenon of fire during long periods of underground seems strange, but they are quite common in reality and have appeared in New Zealand, India, China and Turkmenistan.