Flames were shooting out above the tombstones in the cemetery. I was not prepared for that. This was an image that you just don't ever forget. Today, no flames are visible on the surface but visitors see plain evidence of the fire. The fire is easy to smell, too.
Sulfuric smoke pours out of cracks in the earth and lingers in the air.
The main highway into town, Route 61, is barricaded to traffic - the reason obvious during a walk down the deserted, curving road. An earthquake-like fault splits the asphalt and steady smoke streams from the surface. Near the crack, the heat from the fire easily can be felt. Welcome to Centralia - population 42 and falling. But the people, mostly elderly, who remain there don't plan on moving.