As fire burns on, Centralia residents reunite to remember hometown [Video]

You could call Centralia, Pa., the town of fires that never die.

While this ghost town in Columbia County is infamous for the coal fire that forced its population to evacuate three decades ago, its former residents reunite to this day for an annual Fourth of July bonfire – a little-known tradition that dates back to the Civil War, according to Tony Catizone of Helfensteen, Pa.

This year’s bonfire will take place at a secret location outside of town on Sunday, July 3, capping off a weekend of festivities for former Centralia residents.

Indeed, the community spirit of this small mining town has endured through the thirty years since residents learned of a lethal coal mine fire burning beneath it. Almost 200 Centralians and their family members gathered in Wilburton this weekend to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the town’s incorporation. Town historian Tom Dempsey, now of Girardville, says that …