In 1992 the US Government revoked Centralia's 17927 zip code which successfully marked the death of a once thriving coal town.

The blaze can be traced back to the landfill, but there is some dispute to the origin of the fire. It was either started by the volunteer fire department setting fire to the landfill as they do every year and then letting it get out of control or a garbage hauler dumped hot ash into the landfill. Either way, the fire eventually slipped into the abandoned coal mine that runs beneath the city. The fire burned through the 60's and 70's without any adverse effects until a gas station's gas tank got so hot that it almost exploded (1979) and a kid almost fell into a hot sink hole (1981). In response, Congress set a relocation plan that basically evacuated most of the residents in 1984. Some homeowners still refused to leave so the the state claimed imminent domain to clear the town.

Today most of the town's buildings have been demolished and the roads overgrown. The only things that seem to be maintained still are the cemeteries and the church. Conspiracy theories are still swirling that Pennsylvania just used imminent domain to obtain mineral rights, even though the entire mine is on fire and no work has been done to extract anything....