Editing Centralia, Pennsylvania (section)

===Condemnation and abandonment===
[[Image:Centralia smoke rising b.jpg|thumb|Toxic gas and smoke rising from the ground above the underground fire in 2006]]
{{multiple image
 | footer = Separated [[Duplex (building)|duplex]] houses: brick buttresses were added to support the shared wall after removal of the attached house; an unbuttressed side of a similar house on an otherwise deserted street
 | image1 = Standalone row house in Centralia, Pennsylvania b.jpg
 | alt1 = A semi-detached house separated from its attached neighbor with five buttresses being used to support the shared wall after the attached house was removed
 | image2 = A370, Centralia, Pennsylvania, USA, solitary house, 2008 b.jpg
 | alt2 = and an unbuttressed side of a similar house on an otherwise deserted street with a single street light on a utility pole
}}
[[Image:PA 61 Centralia and Byrnesville.jpg|thumb|1999 photo showing the abandoned highway and its replacement]]

The underground fire is still burning, and in 2006 it was reported that it is expected to do so for another 250 years.<ref name="csmonitor"/>  The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania did not renew the relocation contract at the end of 2005.<ref>''[[Reading Eagle]]'', January 3, 2006</ref> The only indications of the fire, which underlies some {{convert|400|acre|ha}} spreading along four fronts, are low round metal steam vents in the south of the borough. Additional smoke and steam can be seen coming from an abandoned portion of [[Pennsylvania Route 61]], the area just behind the hilltop cemetery, and other cracks in the ground scattered about the area. Several signs warn of underground fire, unstable ground, and dangerous levels of carbon monoxide. 

====Town and Residents====

Few homes remain standing in Centralia. Most of the abandoned buildings have been demolished by the [[Columbia County Redevelopment Authority ]] or reclaimed by nature. At a casual glance, the area now appears to be a field with many paved streets running through it. Some areas are being filled with new-growth forest. 

The last remaining house on Locust Avenue was demolished in September 2007. It was notable for a period for the five chimney-like support [[buttress]]es along each of two opposite sides of the house. The house had formerly been supported by a row of adjacent buildings. Another house with similar buttresses was visible from the northern side of the cemetery, just north of the burning, partially subsumed hillside.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.offroaders.com/album/centralia/ghosttown.htm |title=A modern day Ghost Town, Centralia Pennsylvania |access-date=October 10, 2007}}</ref>

Residents John Comarnisky and John Lokitis, Jr., were evicted in May and July 2009, respectively. In May 2009, the remaining residents mounted another legal effort to reverse the 1992 eminent domain claim.<ref>"Few remain as 1962 Pa. coal town fire still burns," Yahoo News, February 5, 2010</ref> In 2010, only five homes remained as state officials tried to vacate the remaining residents and demolish what was left of the town. In March 2011, a federal judge refused to issue an injunction that would have stopped the condemnation.<ref name="Beauge" />

In February 2012, the Commonwealth Court ruled that a declaration of taking could not be re-opened or set aside on the basis that the purpose for the condemnation no longer exists; seven people, including the borough council president, had filed suit claiming the condemnation was no longer needed because the underground fire had moved and the air quality in the borough was the same as that in [[Lancaster, Pennsylvania|Lancaster]].<ref name="Beauge" /> In October 2013, the remaining residents settled their lawsuit, receiving $218,000 in compensation for the value of their homes, along with $131,500 to settle additional claims, and the right to stay in their homes for the rest of their lives.<ref name=agreement/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/pa-residents-living-above-mine-200344503.html |title=Pa. residents living above mine fire free to stay |date=October 31, 2013 |last=Rubinkam |first=Michael |publisher=Associated Press |via=Yahoo Finance |access-date=November 3, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305044446/https://finance.yahoo.com/news/pa-residents-living-above-mine-200344503.html |archive-date=March 5, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Image:Cent 46 b.jpg|thumb|A [[berm]] blocks entry to the abandoned section of Route 61]]
[[File:A421, Centralia, Pennsylvania, USA, Route 61, abandoned section above coal mine fire, 2016 b.jpg|thumb]]
[[File:Graffiti Highway - Centralia, Pennsylvania (2019) b.jpg|thumb|right|Drone photo of the former "Graffiti Highway" near Centralia in 2019, before it was mostly buried by several hundred access-denial [[berm]]s <!-- confirm: https://maps.app.goo.gl/dH4XBpKymU4WKFJ79 --> ]]

====Route 61====

[[Pennsylvania Route 61]] was repaired several times until it was closed. Smoke and steam caused extensive cracking in the pavement, which led to frequent closure. The current route was formerly a detour around the damaged portion during the repairs and became a permanent route in 1993. The damaged portion of [[Pennsylvania Route 61|PA Route 61]] was abandoned, and became known as Graffiti Highway.<ref>{{cite web|title=Help Cleanup Centralia! 5th Annual Cleanup Day: October 20, 2018|url=https://www.centraliapa.org/help-cleanup-centralia-5th-annual-cleanup-day-october-20-2018/|website=centralitapa.org|date=August 21, 2018|access-date=June 5, 2019}}</ref>  Access berms were placed at both ends of the former route, effectively blocking off the area permanently to vehicular traffic. Pedestrian traffic was still possible due to small openings about two feet wide at the northern and southern terminus of the abandoned stretch of road. 

In April 2020, amidst the early part of the [[COVID-19 pandemic]], the property's current owners made the decision to cover over the graffiti on the highway section of old Route 61. Several hundred mounds of dirt were laid over the area, thus ending a decades-long fascination with the desolate stretch of road.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pennlive.com/news/2020/04/centralias-graffiti-highway-is-finally-getting-the-big-eraser.html |title=Centralia's 'Graffiti Highway' is finally getting erased |date=April 6, 2020}}</ref> [[Google Maps]] overhead satellite-view imagery copyright-dated 2023 shows the former Graffiti Highway almost entirely buried under hundreds of access-denial [[berm]]s.[https://www.google.com/maps/@40.7962779,-76.3432451,296m/data=!3m1!1e3]