FAIRCHANCE, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection is working to determine how big an underground mine fire is in Fairchance Borough.
“We’re very concerned about this,” said Fairchance Council Vice President Neal Christopher. “It’s not like this is a light issue.”
That’s how both Christopher and Thomas Tanner, the Fairchance Mayor, feel about the underground fire just off of North Morgantown Street, less than a quarter mile from the old Kyle Mine.
The mayor said he just learned about it yesterday.
“They never notified the borough about anything going on,” Tanner said.
But neighbors tell Channel 11 it’s been burning for months. The Pennsylvania DEP said it has potentially been burning since September.
“At first I didn’t think nothing of it, but as it got worse and worse, then I noticed people were posting on social media about the mine being on fire, I’m beginning to wonder if this is going to turn into the new Centrailia,” said Edward Hixon, a neighbor.
Centralia is in central Pennsylvania.
A mine fire that’s been burning since 1962 has turned the place into a ghost town.
Derrick Moss lives on the property where the local fire is burning.
Channel 11′s Andrew Havranek: Does it concern you at all?
Moss: “At first it did, most definitely, but I was reassured that the problem would be eradicated, so no worries for real.”
Moss said the state DEP told him a low-quality coal is burning underground.
“I think it’s the mine,” Tanner added. “I mean, it smells like coal and sulfur together. They said there was a stump in there and they tried to burn it. I don’t know if that set that off.
“It could have,” Christopher said.
The DEP sent a statement to Channel 11 addressing the fire.
“DEP received a report of this incident on the afternoon of Monday, January 6, and dispatched an investigator from DEP’s Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation to the site on January 7. DEP’s initial investigation revealed a previously unknown abandoned coal mine fire. DEP suspects that the fire may have resulted from someone burning a tree stump in September 2024. The nearest abandoned mine, the Kyle Mine, is located within a quarter mile but west of the location of the fire. Mine fires can be complex challenges to investigate and extinguish, and DEP does not yet have a sense for how large the fire is. DEP is currently pursuing an emergency contract to quickly address the hazard and extinguish the fire. In the meantime, DEP advises the public to avoid the area.”
The borough put caution tape around the area Wednesday.
“We’re going to take care of it with the proper authorities,” Christopher said.
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