Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Centralia mine fire is believed to have started on or around the 27th of May 1962, when volunteer firefighters set the town landfill alight in an abandoned strip-mine pit. An unsealed opening in the pit allowed the fire to enter the network of abandoned coal mines beneath the borough. A contributing factor was the borough's failure to install a required fire-resistant clay barrier between landfill layers.
As of the 2020 census, five people still reside in Centralia. In October 2013, the remaining seven residents settled a lawsuit with state officials, receiving the right to stay in their homes for the rest of their lives, after which the properties revert to the state through eminent domain.
As of 2006, experts estimated the Centralia mine fire would continue burning for approximately another 250 years. The fire underlies roughly 400 acres and spreads along four fronts, fed by the extensive network of abandoned coal mines beneath the borough.
In 1992, Pennsylvania governor Bob Casey invoked eminent domain on all property in Centralia, condemning all buildings within the borough. More than 1,000 residents had already relocated after the U.S. Congress allocated over $42 million for relocation in 1983, and 500 structures were demolished.
Graffiti Highway was the abandoned section of Pennsylvania Route 61, closed after steam and smoke from the mine fire repeatedly cracked its pavement. The damaged stretch became a destination for visitors over several decades. In April 2020, the property's owners buried it under several hundred mounds of dirt, permanently closing it.
Centralia reached its maximum population of 2,761 in 1890, according to federal census records. At its peak the town had seven churches, five hotels, 27 saloons, two theaters, a bank, a post office, and 14 general and grocery stores.