Lessons

There are plenty of lessons to be learned from Centralia. First off, a poor assessment of possible risks was made when burning a fire above a known coal mine. Secondly, to preserve the valuable anthracite coal below the fire, it should have been immediately put out, which seemed expensive at the time, but is exponentially cheaper in the long run. It appears that these lessons did not go totally unlearned. As new fires break out in various other locations, the citizens are demanding immediate action, to eliminate the threat of the fire before it has a chance to transform their town into "another Centralia." Another mine fire in Edwardsville started from debris in an abandoned mine pit started in 1977, and was immediately dealt with and extinguished. Taxes were placed on coal companies to create an emergency fund for this type of work. As for Centralia itself, I hope that once the Governor's new (and final) term begins, efforts are made to eliminate the area of the few remaining residents, and serious work is undertaken to stop the fire before it claims Mount Caramel. Mount Caramel's officials have already expressed concern that there is no plan in place to stop the fire from spreading. But with a price tag of over a half billion dollars, increasing every day that the fire still burns, and the government's previous track record, I'm not holding my breath. Because after all that's been said and promised, after hopes were nourished and then destroyed, people were repeatedly misled by the government to believe that the fire would be taken care of. And yet, Centralia still burns today.

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