If it wasn’t for the steam rising like fog out of cracks in the earth, you could likely drive right into this once thriving town and not even realise you’d left it behind until you had already passed through.

Centralia in Pennsylvania is an eerie place is slowly being reclaimed by nature as almost all its residents left years ago — and the handful that remain will stay until they die.

This is a ghost town where a fire has been burning underground for decades and will burn for hundreds more. Once a bustling mining town, Centralia was home to thousands of people.

Its coal mines opened in 1856 and brought employment to the families that lived there. At its height, the population of Centralia was 2,761 in 1890 and the town had several churches, hotels and saloons as well as theatres, a bank and a post office. 

However, all that began to change in the 1960s when mining had begun to dry up, and the prosperity of the town was waning. 

No one seems to know exactly how underground fire began. Some theorise the blaze broke out when the council hired the volunteer brigade to clear out the town landfill, located in an abandoned strip mine. The fire fighters set the dump on fire and let it burn, but it never went out. An unsealed passage allowed the flames to spread into the labyrinth of old tunnels that lay beneath the town.

Another theory is the fire broke out from a trash hauler dumping hot coals into the open trash pit near the mine. 

Regardless of how it started, the fire took hold underground. Smoke began to drift upwards through the ground and firefighters battled to extinguish the fire. Initially, it was thought they had succeeded, but unbeknownst to them, the fire had spread further than anyone could have anticipated.

For years, locals considered their underground fire to be a nuisance but one that could be managed. A pervasive stench of sulphur and smoke hung in the air and some residents were forced to leave their homes due to the toxic smoke in the late 60s.

Ten years later in 1979, the fire reached a point of no return. The mayor, John Coddington, who also ran a gas station, discovered during a routine check that the gasoline in his underground tanks was sitting at a dangerously high temperature — 77.8C. 

Two years later, 12-year-old Todd Domboski had an incredibly lucky escape when a sinkhole suddenly split his back garden in two. He tumbled into the 150 foot deep hole and only managed to escape by clinging on to a tree root. The hole spewed deadly levels of carbon monoxide high into the air. 

Despite the obvious evidence that Centralia was becoming unsafe, residents were split on whether the town was still livable. By 1983, the government had allocated more than $42 million for relocation efforts and almost everyone accepted the money.

More than 1,000 people moved out, and 500 buildings were demolished. According to census records, by 1990, there were just 63 remaining residents. Two years later, the whole town was condemned, and by 2010, only five homes still stood. 

The remaining residents did not want to leave, despite the flames still consuming the tunnels beneath their feet. They appealed a court decision ordering them to leave, but still refused. Finally in 2013, an agreement was reached with the final seven residents to allow them to stay in Centralia until their deaths at which point their properties would be taken. 

Now, the fire has burned over a 13km radius. Estimates are that if it continues to burn at its current rate, it could continue for more than 250 years. 

Today, Centralia is largely abandoned and nature has reclaimed the streets that once houses thousands. The only sign that a town once stood here is the old church, and the highway that snakes through the lush greenery. Signs warning of toxic gas, unstable ground and fire are dotted through the landscape. 

All that remains of this once-bustling town is the steam that rises from beneath the earth when rain falls into the cracks of the ground and onto the waiting flames below.