'I think a few weeks ago, there was a fire there, people just starting fires,' said Vincent Guarna, president of the Fox Coal Company that was hired by Pagnotti Enterprises to cover the road Large, rowdy crowds have been gathering at the hot spot in recent weeks.
But the controlled landfill burn was not fully extinguished and it crept through an unsealed opening in the pit which allowed the fire to enter the labyrinth of abandoned coal mines beneath Centralia The fire began when the city of Centralia attempted to control burn the local landfill which was in the location of an old, defunct mining pit.
#GRAFFITI HIGHWAY CRACK#
Smoke rises from a large crack in Pennsylvania Highway 61, caused by the underground coal fire which has been burning for almost 60 years. High school student Emily Hessling of Easton, Pennsylvania spray paints her name on the abandoned portion of Route 61, commonly known as the 'Graffiti Highway.' The state highway was closed in 1993 and re-routed to bypass the town of Centralia after damages from the 1962 coal mine fire made it unsafe to travel By 1992, the government condemned the entire Columbia County town claimed all the real-estate through eminent domain. The subterranean blaze has been impossible to contain as it continues to be fueled by the abundant supply of natural coal in Columbia County. The fire which underlies roughly 400-acres ravaged the once thriving middle class town with 1,500 residents and as of 2017, only five residents remain. Pennsylvania State Route 61 was permanently closed in 1993 after it was irrevocably damaged from an underground coal mine fire that has been burning in the nearby town of Centralia since 1962. The owners were recently left with no recourse but to cover the spontaneous public art piece as it posed a significant health threat and potential spreading-ground for the deadly virus. The colorful strip of road was purchased from Pennsylvania's Department of Transportation by Pagnotti Enterprises in 2018. 'They got sick of the complaints and the liability,' said Tom Hynoski, Centralia's fire chief and emergency management director to the Daily Item
#GRAFFITI HIGHWAY CRACKED#
Despite being on private property with no trespassing allowed, illegal visitors have come out in droves to visit the local landmark's smoldering, cracked painted asphalt amid the corona virus pandemic. The old section of Route 61 was purchased from Pennsylvania's Department of Transportation in 2018 by Pagnotti Enterprises. They're supposed to be staying home due to the COVID-19 but they're coming from New York and New Jersey to be here.' 'It's ridiculous,' Centralia's fire chief and emergency management director, Tom Hynoski told the Daily Item. Now the colorful highway will be closed permanently and covered in dirt as a direct result from the spike in visitors amid the coronavirus pandemic that has swept through the nation, closing schools, businesses and forcing people to work from home. 74- mile long abandoned stretch of Route 61 that runs through the ghost town of Centralia has been a local landmark since 1993 when tag artists saw a blank canvas on the forgotten length of cracked asphalt. 'Graffiti Highway' - Pennsylvania's oddest tourist attraction is the latest casualty in the coronavirus pandemic.
74- mile long abandoned stretch of Route 61 that was closed in 1993 after it had been damaged beyond repair and deemed 'extremely dangerous' from an underground coal mine fire that has been burning since 1962 Graffiti Highway has seen a massive spike in visitors since the corona virus lockdown and now the current owners are forced to permanently shut down the road by covering over the asphalt with dirt.
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