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Mine Fire Burning near Pottsville
Dec 30, 2008
By Bob Reynolds
WNEP-TV
The ground is on fire in one community in Schuylkill County.
Smoke coming out of a drilling operation near Pottsville. Federal officials said it's from an underground mine fire which could be thousands of degrees hot. The drilling will tell federal experts how deep and widespread the fire is.
From the surface smoke can be seen in a wide area.
"The intent would be to protect the homes the best we could which would involve, like I said, either cutting it off and keeping it in this area or extinguishing the fire," explained John Mack of the Office of Surface Mining, who added it's a good thing it was discovered. "Absolutely. These things have a tendency to go on forward."
The fire is hidden in a wooded area. Officials said it's burning toward homes. People in the area said they didn't know the mine fire was in their neighborhood.
"It's a little bit scary. We put a lot of money into our house, although is may not look like it, and we didn't know it until this point and I don't know if insurance companies cover something like this," said Jessica Kennedy.
"It doesn't concern me a whole lot. I trust it will be taken care of and if not, as long as they give us ample warning to get out of here," said Vince Kennedy.
As the fire burns and crews work to contain it, some said they will be keeping a close watch.
"Well they've been trying to contain the Centralia mine fire for how many years? And they haven't done that so I don't know what to think. I know we are foster parents and this is all we have, is our house," said Lee Dalton.
It's unclear why people were not informed about the burning pile. Federal, state and local officials have known for weeks.
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