Centralia Mine Fire Begins

Date: May 27, 1962 • Location: Ashland, United States

A fire at a landfill in Centralia, Pennsylvania, spread to an abandoned coal mine, where it continues burning today.

A landfill is a site for the disposal of waste materials, including municipal solid waste. It is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of waste with daily, intermediate, and final covers only began in the 1940s. In the past, waste was simply left in piles or thrown into pits.