The video game series is set in the fictional town of Silent Hill in the USA, inspired by the very real town of Centralia, Pennsylvania. In this real world town, there is nothing left but a few dilapidated buildings and a road that slowly sinks into the ground.
Screenwriter Roger Avery (Pulp Fiction) took the real ghost town of Centralia, Pennsylvania and used it as inspiration for the 2006 film's Silent Hill setting. The real story is a tragic tale of destruction and loss, and it's a story that has still not reached its conclusion.
Silent Hill is a fictitious town largely based on the tragic events in Centralia, Pennsylvania. Is the mine fire still burning under Centralia? Yes, the mine fire started on May 27, 1962 and is still burning today. Estimates show there is enough coal for the fire to burn for 250 years.
In short, there is nothing stopping visitors from driving into the borough, parking, and walking around. A majority of Centralia is owned by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It was acquired through the power of eminent domain in the early 1990s. In that sense, most of the land within the borough is public property.
Centralia is a borough and near-ghost town in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. Its population has declined from 1,000 in 1980 to five residents in 2020 because a coal mine fire has been burning beneath the borough since 1962.
However, experts believe the fires under Centralia could burn another 250 years before they exhaust the coal supply that fuels them. Why don't firemen simply put them out? They can't! The fires are too deep and burn too hot to be fought effectively.
In the Centralia mine disaster on March 25, 1947, the Centralia No. 5 coal mine exploded near the town of Centralia, Illinois, killing 111 people.
Very few houses are left standing, and the underground fire is still burning. There's almost nothing left in Centralia—except a white church with a blue dome that rises above the trees.
The reasons people come to Centralia Pennsylvania are varied and complex. Many people come to walk the Graffiti Highway or to explore the burn zone. Others are looking to connect with the area's coal mining history or experience one of the inspirations for the film Silent Hill.
In May 1962, the city ordered to have the local landfill burned in an attempt to clean up the waste. The fire spread through unsealed tunnels and openings that led to an abandoned coal mine. This, ignited a fire that burns to this day and is why Centralia became a Silent Hill Pennsylvania-based inspiration.
For the town in the comics canon, see Silent Hill (comics). The name of that town is Silent Hill. Although it is known as a scenic resort area, it is a cursed place where the town's former inhabitants were once driven away, brutal executions were once carried out, and a mysterious plague was once prevalent.
It is burning in underground coal mines at depths of up to 300 ft (90 m) over an 8 mi (13 km) stretch of 3,700 acres (15 km2). At its current rate, it could continue to burn for over 250 years.
The cloudy look of the fog in Silent Hill 2 could be inspired by Twin Peaks. In the original game, the fog and darkness allowed Team Silent to sidestep hardware limitations.
Through experiencing Silent Hill as a Punishment Dream(Freud,1952) and allowing himself the time and space to explore himself and his ego, he begins to process the damage. The town of Silent Hill is not actually filled with monsters. It is a waking nightmare, or dreamlike hallucination that only James can see.
The Centralia Mine Fire has been burning in the abandoned deep mine workings of the Buck Mountain Coal Bed since May 1962. The fire reportedly originated as an intentional controlled burning of residential trash in an abandoned strip pit (surface mine).
The community of roughly 1,500 was supported by the seam of coal that ran beneath the town. However, in 1962, a fire was lit in the town dump that spread beneath the entire valley and threatened the community's existence. A lonely and abandoned street corner in Centralia.
Scientists estimate that Australia's BurningMountain, the oldest known coal fire, has burned for 6,000 years.
In the mid-1980s, the government provided more than $42 million to buy out and relocate Centralia's remaining residents, with more than 1,000 people accepting the offer and 500 buildings being demolished.
A century ago, Centralia, Pennsylvania was a busy small town filled with shops, residents and a brisk mining business. Coal from local mines fueled its homes and its economy, and its 1,200 residents worked, played and lived as tight-knit neighbors.
The group of former residents along with the American Legion ultimately won out and successfully recovered the Centralia time capsule in June of 2014. When they opened it, they were shocked to find that there was about a foot water inside.
The fire is burning within a coal seam in New South Wales, Australia. In a remote nature reserve in the Australian state of New South Wales, there is a strange fire which has been burning underground for at least 6,000 years, making it the oldest known fire in the world.
CENTRALIA, Pa. —
Because of concerns about crowds, the owner has decided to cover the colorful road with dirt. Trees and grass will be planted on top. The fire in Centralia has been burning since May 1962, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
Depending on how much oxygen could reach the fire, the flames under Centralia could burn as hot as 1,350 degrees Fahrenheit, and ground temperatures sometimes exceeded 900 F.
The conflict between the American Legion and Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or "Wobblies") members resulted in six deaths, others being wounded, multiple prison terms, and an ongoing and especially bitter dispute over the motivations and events that precipitated the event.
Casualties: 22 Union soldiers killed, plus 123 in the ensuing Battle of Centralia. Result: Massacre of the Union soldiers; Union defeat in the Battle of Centralia.