The Next Centralia.

An underground trash fire just outside Pottsville has local, county and state officials worried “another Centralia” could ignite.

“The coal is only about 30 feet down,” county coal lands investigator John Mills said Thursday of the fire, burning for at least two weeks. The fire — on a Norwegian Township mountainside about 300 yards behind WPPA’s radio towers — has not yet ignited underground coal veins. If it does, Mills said the results would be devastating.

“It would be a continual burn, on the order of Centralia,” said Mills.

In Centralia, a small Columbia County town north of Ashland along state Route 61, a garbage fire in 1962 set off a chain of underground mine fires. The government claimed ownership of all remaining homes in 1991; the population is now less than two dozen.

The local fire is described as a “smoldering rubbish fire” by Office of Surface Mining officials. OSM project manager John Pace said crews will begin digging up the mountain next week in hopes of extinguishing the blaze.

“We’re concerned it could get to some coal,” Pace said in a telephone interview Thursday. “There’s a lot of coal around there. We’re going to recommend exploratory work.”

On Thursday afternoon, smoke rose from the smoldering ground, though nothing on the surface was ablaze. A stench of burning garbage hung in the air.

The area, in and around an old stripping pit, is a dumping ground for refuse. Empty beer cases, used shingles and other trash is strewn around the site.

It is unclear, Mills said, how it started. Norwegian Township officials said Thursday that local fire crews responded to a trash fire in the area two weeks ago.

Township supervisors Vice Chairman Leo Grace agreed Thursday that the fire, if left unattended, could be devastating.

“We might not want to let it go until next week,” Grace said. “We can’t let this be another Centralia. And it could be.”

Mills said he was made aware of the fire Monday, but added he’s been told it has not grown worse over the past two weeks. He said, however, the flames occasionally break through the earth.

“Yesterday (Wednesday), there were some flames shooting up out of the ground,” Mills said.

Mills said an OSM team is expected to arrive next week with bulldozers and backhoes. After digging up the stripping pit — which will also allow officials to see just how widespread the fire is — local fire companies will douse the area, he added.

In the meantime, Mills said he checks on the fire twice every day. Grace said he’s instructed township personnel to keep an eye on it as well.


* courtesy of schuylkill.com