Centralia in the News
Big news on the relocation front
Those of you who follow the Centralia message boards already know this, but the state has begun moving the last dozen or so diehards out of Centralia. I confirmed this about two months ago with Steve Fishman, general counsel of the Department of Community and Economic Development, when I was writing the revised and updated version of Unseen Danger (now to be titled Fire Underground) that will be out Sept. 1 from Globe Pequot Press. My new book includes the old one but adds three new chapters and 50 color photos and takes the story up to the present time. I asked him if everyone was going to be moved out, and he said yes. If you recall, the Casey Administration invoked eminent domain against the handful of remaining Centralia residents in 1992. Some then left, but about a dozen stayed, living rent free and tax free in their homes but unable to touch the money paid for them until they actually left. Casey didn't want to force anyone out, and neither did Tom Ridge. Ed Rendell has agreed to be the bad guy. John Lokitis, Jr., star of the documentary, The Town That Was, and who according to Schuylkill County records has purchased a home near Ashland, told the Cent-Cony newsgroup that he has to be gone by Labor Day. Fishman told me the eviction timetable would depend on resolution of court cases filed by the residents challenging the eminent domain prices paid for their homes.
Centralia featured on History Channel
"Life After People," the compelling series on the History Channel, had a long segment on Centralia and the mine fire in last night's episode. I was the commentator. They filmed the interview with me back in February on a really cold day. Here is a link to the extended scenes from the episode, which are all about Centralia. If you have a hi-def TV, the hi-def looks great. Episode 6, "Bound and Buried," will be rebroadcast June 8 at 11 p.m. on the History Channel and on June 9 at 3 a.m. Set the DVR.
Centralia DVD available May 19
Those of you who have been eagerly awaiting release of the documentary about the Centralia mine fire, "The Town That Was," directed by Chris Perkel and Georgie Roland, will finally be able to purchase copies come May 19. Amazon.com is taking pre-orders now, and from the sales ranking of the DVD--about 35,000 in late April, give or take a few--a fair number of pre-orders are being received.
"The Town That Was" focuses both on the mine fire and how it started and on the efforts of the last few diehard residents of the town, notably John Lokitis, Jr., to keep Centralia alive. He comes across as a dedicated and amiable crank who got his attitude at home. Neither his parents nor his grandfather accepted relocation, although his uncle and aunt did. It is a sad film with no happy ending, but it tells the story well and is fair to all. Perkel and Lokitis, who live in Los Angeles but are from Pennsylvania, tracked down 8 mm home movies that help bring the old town back to life.
I was the consultant to the film and appear a few times to talk about the history of the mine fire. A number of my photographs are seen in the film and in the extra materials.
Centralia song out on CD
Pennsylvania folk singer Jay Smar's song about the Centralia mine fire, "The Fires of Centralia," is finally available on CD. The song, which Landingville, Pa., resident Smar wrote, is on his new disk, "Heritage and Coal Mining Songs of Northeast Pennsylvania." This is a well-made, professional album with high-quality musicianship. It should appeal to anyone who likes traditional American music. "The Fires of Centralia" is a mournful lament for, well, a town that was, and is closely based on my book. It has a catchy tune, and any artist who can work both DenMar Gardens and the AML Fund into a song deserves credit! But seriously, this is good stuff. You can catch Jay this coming weekend, April 25 at 7 p.m. at the Majestic Theatre in downtown Pottsville, Pa. He'll have copies of his CD for sale.
New wind farm overlooks Centralia
Lots of news to report. I drove up to Shamokin Sept. 20 for a dentist appointment and decided to stop in Centralia on the way back to shoot photos. So I'm driving the final stretch on Route 61 after leaving Mount Carmel when I see a new wind farm on the Aristes Mountain just east of Centralia. If you drive up the Aristes Mountain on Route 42, the service road to the wind farm is near the top. It looks like about a dozen turbines, although I didn't count and couldn't see how far along the mountain they extend. They were not turning on a breezy day, so may not be online. I was last in Centralia in June and they weren't there then. Probably one of the better places to put a wind farm, since there is almost no one living near enough to them to object to the soft, steady white noise they produce or the shadow flicker. The best place to see them is from the Mount Carmel highway, or from the corner in what was the center of town across where Route 61 intersects with Route 42, or from the steam area up by St. Ignatius Cemetery. You can't see them from Odd Fellows Cemetery because of the trees. I don't know which of the wind energy companies owns these turbines, but will try to find out.
Centralia tourism
If you go to Centralia on nearly any weekend and park in the make-shift lot at the corner of Locust Avenue and South Street, where Coddington's Amoco Station used to be, you are likely to have company. People come here from literally miles around, from distant states even, to see the Centralia mine fire. When I went up there April 29 to be interviewed by Russian State Television, the reporter, Evgeny Popov, told me they had talked earlier in the day to people from Michigan, "Silent Hill" fans who wanted to see the town that inspired screenwriter Roger Avary and director Christophe Gans (it's true--they acknowledge it), even if Centralia, unlike Silent Hill, doesn't have strange monsters living beneath it. As far as we know. During my interview with Popov, a man with a camera stopped to talk to us. He had come there from Massachusetts.
Centralia tourism has drawn the attention of Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, Pa. A study by Caitlin Mahoney in the History Department found that some local businesses, including the Pioneer Tunnel coal mine tour in nearby Ashland, actively promote Centralia visits in the name of good old American profit. Visitors fall into two categories, the study says. "Fringe" tourists value Centralia for its status as "an unofficial, hidden destination," and heritage tourists who visit the site on the encouragement of regional our guides, store employees and officials. Amusingly, the study found that many of those interested in Centralia "do not fit into the target audience of recent governmental efforts at promoting cultural tourism."
Live and learn
I watched WITF TV's ExplorePA's "Schuylkill County" episode this week, the one that shows me giving a tour of the Centralia mine fire to the delightful Leidigh family from Carlisle, Pa. I didn't think much of the overall show--it's a really dumbed-down, goofy approach to a travelogue, a kind of Philadelphia view of what the great unwashed masses in the rest of the state find entertaining--or of their failure to identify who I was. They gave my name, and that's it. Viewers were left to imagine why I was there talking about the Centralia mine fire. Now you have to know that when I've been on the History Channel, or Russian State Television, or the documentary, The Town That Was, or Fresh Air, or the Diane Rehm Show, they always describe me as the author of Unseen Danger or at least as an author. It's simple, good journalism in addition to being a thank you to the person who helped you make your show or film attractive and interesting to viewers. I had an unpleasant conversation with some woman from WITF about this on Thursday and she haughtily insisted that they don't identify anybody and wouldn't make an exception for me. Great journalism is all I can say.
And so it goes. I regret having spent Labor Day weekend Saturday helping WITF at my own expense for this kind of shabby treatment. If I had delved into it, I would have known that this is a station that tries to exploit its own workers, so why should I be any different? At the time, WITF was in a bitter, union-busting war with NABET/CWA Local 213, which represents the crew that filmed me. That war ended last October with a humilating defeat for WITF. Which is as it should be and too often isn't when management tries to bust a union.
Explore PA visits Centralia
This coming Wednesday, July 16 at 8 p.m., repeating Saturday, July 19, at 3 p.m., WITF-TV in Harrisburg, Pa., will visit Centralia as part of an episode in the new season of Explore PA, the series which follows regular Pennsylvania families as they visit interesting places around the state. I was asked by WITF to give a tour of the Centralia mine fire to the Leidigh family from Carlisle as part of the "Schuylkill County" episode. Centralia is technically in Columbia County, but it's about a mile or less from the Schuylkill County line. Plus, it's damned interesting. How much of the tour made it into the show I don't know. I walked the Leidigh's around the area where the fire started and where it burns today. They were quite interested, even though it was a bad day for steam. The episode was filmed last Labor Day weekend on a warm day, so there was only a little steam issuing from the ground over the fire.
I've done the tour guide thing many times, most notably around 1988 or 1989 for Bill O'Reilly (yes, that one) when he was hosting the tabloid TV series Inside Edition. This was long before his Fox News days. Inside Edition was doing a segment on the Centralia mine fire, and O'Reilly wanted me to give him a tour. Unlike my tour for the Leidighs, the ground was steaming profusely that day as he and I walked around followed by a camera crew. Nice guy, no question about it. I'm not a fan of him today, but he did well by me back then. I don't have a copy of that show, but would love to have one.
Other public TV stations around Pennsylvania will be showing the Explore PA series. I'm trying to find out when they will show the "Schuylkill County" episode and will post that information if I do.
Other stuff
To find out what (mostly) former Centralia residents are thinking and talking about these days, check out Ritamarie Long’s website . Make your way down the page through the ads and click on Message Board to get to, well, the message board. Very lively and informative at times.
Read the Sunday New York Times review of Unseen Danger from Jan. 4, 1987.
Another very good discussion group about Centralia and Conyngham Twp. can be found here. You must sign up to use it, but that's easy to do.