The 1981 sinkhole that forced Pennsylvania to abandon an entire town

As an underground coal fire spread beneath Centralia, Pennsylvania, the dangers above ground grew just as fast. Carbon monoxide seeped into homes, steam escaped through cracks in the earth, and parts of the town began to subside.

The disaster gained national attention on February 14, 1981, when 12-year-old Todd Domboski was nearly swallowed after the ground suddenly collapsed beneath him, opening a deep sinkhole filled with hot gases. He survived only by grabbing a tree root while his cousin pulled him to safety.

The incident accelerated government efforts to relocate residents. Using federal funding approved by Congress, Pennsylvania gradually bought out most homeowners and demolished much of the town. Today, only a handful of residents remain while the underground fire continues to burn beneath Centralia.

The fire itself began in May 1962, when officials ignited a landfill in an abandoned strip-mining pit ahead of Memorial Day — a routine cleanup that instead reached the exposed Buck Mountain coal seam and set off a fire that has now burned for more than six decades, spreading through a network of abandoned mine tunnels beneath the town.