Review: Fire Underground

The book Fire Underground: The Ongoing Tragedy of the Centralia Mine Fire by David DeKok tells the story of how a mining disaster made a ghost town of Centralia, Pennsylvania.

Back in 1999 a friend of mine was playing a rather dark yet compelling video game called “Silent Hill”. I recall it being creepy and surprisingly engaging. The genre of the game is called “Survival Horror” (how telling that this is actually a genre on its own, but that’s another conversation altogether). Not being very adept at video games, I simply watched him play it and that was that. Or so I thought.

Years later, in 2006, I found myself watching a movie, also called Silent Hill. Creepy, scary, and once more rather mesmerizing. The DVD had an added feature on The Making of Silent Hill or some such title and I ended up watching that bonus content with even more interest.

It briefly mentioned that the film (and the original video game) had been inspired in part by a real tragedy that occurred in a Pennsylvania mining town in 1962. It was this back-story that led me to read Fire Underground.

The book describes the events that led up to the first underground fire in an anthracite coal mine that was the economic heart and soul of the region. It relates how the fire started; attempts to contain the problem; politicians and business people running for cover; the pointing of fingers; botched attempts at containment; a parade of scientific personnel, ingenious laymen, professionals, and everyone else, all of whom failed to stop the fire, which is still burning today and may burn for decades to come.

You might think that would be all, but there is much more to the story, including: denial by the government; the bizarre placement of poison detection systems in people’s homes; the refusal to compensate homeowners after they were forced to leave town; pitting of neighbour against neighbour and family member against family member. All this is told in detail, narrating the horrific story of the slow and agonizing death of a town.

DeKok possesses the rare ability to take non-fiction reportage and make it every bit a page-turner as a best-selling thriller.

As a post-script, Centralia is now a featured destination on various travel websites, listed under the heading of “disaster tourism” (!!). Indeed, truth is far stranger than fiction. And more disturbing.