A handful of residents who have defied an inferno gnawing away in an abandoned coal mine beneath their homes for 30 years have been ordered by the state to give up and go.
But the mayor of Centralia said Thursday the governor would have a fight on his hands if he tried to force them to flee.More than 1,000 residents have left Centralia, about 80 miles northwest of Philadelphia, in the last eight years, taking advantage of a federal buyout program.
The town has been in danger since 1962, when a cemetery worker noticed smoke coming out of the ground from the mine, which had been used as the municipal garbage dump.
As years wore on and neither state nor federal governments could come up with a reasonable solution to quench the fires, the Earth became pockmarked with smokey sink holes, homes were equipped with gas monitors, and roads were closed as fire spread. When it rained the ground stayed dry in many places.
Ten years ago nearly $1 million was spent to drill holes to determine the extent of the fire, and in 1984 the federal government decided that instead of fighting the fire, it would spend $42 million to relocate the residents.
Mayor Anne Marie Devine said in a telephone interview the fire is moving away from the remaining townspeople and accused the state of using health and safety as a pretense for gaining the mineral rights of the town.
"They've always been after the coal beneath the town," Devine said. "We, as a town, own the mineral rights. Should Centralia cease to exist, the mineral rights would revert to the state. Need I say any more?"
Devine said she called Gov. Robert P. Casey Wednesday when she learned of the state's decision and left a message with his staff.
"I told him he's in for the fight of his life."
Maude Howie, a 95-year-old retired school teacher, is living in the house she was born in and has also vowed to stay, said John Carling, disaster programs chief for the state Department of Community Affairs.
"She's several blocks from the fire. When it will be under her remains to be seen," he said.
Carling said the 84 remaining residents are living on borrowed time.
Foremost, Carling said, is the threat of sudden sink holes appearing when the coal pillars supporting the ground surface give in.
Smoke, steam and enough heat to set a house on fire shoot out of the sink holes, Carling said. Then there is the constant threat of seeping carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, he said.
The state Department of Environmental Resources plans to invoke the right of eminent domain to buy all of the remaining properties, because it believes all residents will eventually be in danger if they stay.
The state buyout program was initiated after it was estimated the cost of putting out the fire would be $600 million, Carling said.
"The state made a decision last Friday that it would not be responsible to walk away from here and leave behind 44 property owners at risk," Carling said. "We had hoped that all would see the wisdom of selling their homes and leaving voluntarily. That has not occurred."
The state is renting the municipal building next Thursday to meet with the townspeople to explain what happens next. Carling said it could take two years to get everyone moved into new homes.
"If I wanted a new house, I would have been long gone," Devine said. "We're talking about some things that just don't wear a pricetag. "