The Pennsylvania town that's been on fire for 50 years

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Centralia, Pennsylvania is Hell on Earth. It's the town where a 12-year old boy once fell into a pit that "suddenly appeared in his grandmother's backyard. He grabbed onto a tree root, and his cousin pulled him out from the steam-emitting hole in the earth." The pit was caused by an underground coal fire that's been burning for over 50 years "and may burn for several more centuries."

Pricenomics has a good short history of Centralia, which is now mostly abandoned.

[Photo credit: Lyndi and Jason via Flickr]