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CNN Live Today

Pennsylvania Town is Victim of Slow Burn

Aired May 31, 2002 - 13:45   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: It's hard to imagine, but for the last 40 years a fire has been burning in central Pennsylvania. It started in May 1962 when a trash fire accidentally ignited a coal mine that extends beneath the town of Centralia, Pennsylvania. CNN's Jeanne Meserve is actually there and she joins us with more. Jeanne, how can this be?

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they tried to put it out, weren't successful. They decided the best thing was to just try and let it burn itself out. That could take another 100 years. You can probably see here some of the steam and some of the gasses that are coming up out of the coal mine.

It is burning a couple hundred feet underneath me. And behind me here, skeletons of trees. The heat from the fire killed their root system.

LIN: All right. I think we lost Jeanne Meserve's audio there. We are going to try to get that back for you. Because in fact, here is a piece that Jeanne filed earlier. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MESERVE (voice-over): Then and now. From a town of 1,500 to about 15.

(on camera): What was in this big lot over here?

TOM DEMPSEY, FORMER CENTRALIA RESIDENT: This lot here actually was a block of homes. Right here. It was the 100 block of West Main Street.

MESERVE (voice-over): Tom Dempsey (ph) grew up here, was postmaster before moving away. Where his post office was, there is nothing now. There isn't much mail to deliver. Where there were churches, now there is grass. Few worshippers this town. Where there was a bank, nothing. Not enough money. Where there were schools, there are none. Few children live here now.

DEMPSEY: There would have been cars on both sides of the street. Parking was at a premium back in those days.

MESERVE (on camera): Lots of kids? DEMPSEY: Lots of kids, yes. Kids out playing around. Bikes up and down.

MESERVE (voice-over): The mine fire killed Centralia. You can see it burning right up on the hill. Government officials say it is emitting gasses, including deadly carbon monoxide. In the early '80s, the federal government decided it was cheaper to move the town than put the fire out. So a voluntary buy-out and relocation program was begun. Most people decided to go, but not everyone. Where once there were rows of houses, solitary homes now stand alone. Like that of 86- year-old Centralia mayor, Lamar Mervine.

(on camera): Do you think you will ever leave?

MAYOR LAMAR MERVINE, CENTRALIA, PENNSYLVANIA: Yes, when the undertaker comes, I hope.

MESERVE: But not before then?

DEMPSEY: Not before.

MESERVE (voice-over): When residents do die or move, their houses, like this one, will come down, until everything is gone. Everything but the memories.

DEMPSEY: That's the saddest part about the hole thing. It destroyed what was otherwise a vibrant, friendly community, you know. That's what is hard it take when you see that, you know.

MESERVE (on camera): Make you sad?

DEMPSEY: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MESERVE: The memories are still alive and so are the stories. I heard one this morning, that there used to be a barber shop here that as a sideline sold canaries. Now this is mining countries, but these canaries weren't for use in the mines. People put them in their homes as an early detection device to see if the gasses had gotten too strong. Carol, back to you.

LIN: Jeanne, can you actually smell some of these gasses where you are standing? Is it safe for you to even be there?

MESERVE: We had some scientists here earlier in the day who kept saying, "Do you know how dangerous that is to walk down here?" We can smell the gasses. If you arearound them for too long you do start fo feel a little queasy. The other danger is that the ground can give way under you. There's a spot not too far from here, where back in the '80s the ground gave way underneath a young boy who was playing. He managed to grab a tree root. He had on a fluorescent hat. His cousin saw him because of the hat, grabbed him and pulled him out. And that actually is the incident that put this mine fire really in the public eye -- Carol.

LIN: Oh, my God. It might be burning for another hundred years. Thanks so much.

MESERVE: That's what they say.

LIN: Jeanne Meserve, you take care! We want to see you home safely soon. Thanks for bringing us that story.

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