143:. In this decade, an attempt was made to dig out the fire. In 1956, it was projected to take three years, but it continued into the 1960s and caused significant property damage. During the excavation, large amounts of coal were removed from the area. During the excavation, the fire nearly spread to the east side or downtown part of Carbondale, but was successfully contained.
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The work scene is awesome. Men with giant shovels, bulldozers, and trucks are now swarming over the site. Before they are through, they will dig out an area almost a mile long and a half-mile wide down to bedrock—on average a hundred feet or more...(moving) more earth than the builders of the Panama
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By the mid-1950s, the
Carbondale mine fire occupied an area of 120 acres and burned as far down as 100 feet (30 m). The top 40 feet (12 m) in the area of the fire consisted of rock and wash. Below this, there were five or six coal seams ranging from 3 to 8 feet (0.91 to 2.44 m) thick
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In 1960, evacuation began in the vicinity of the
Carbondale mine fire and over the following decade, mine experts acknowledged the fire's continued spread. Around this time, a proposal was made to drain nearby lakes to use those waters to flood the fire, citing a project cost of $ 100,000. Another
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spread to nearby mine workings. It is unknown if the fire was natural or man-made. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, a number of minor unsuccessful attempts were made to stop the fire by flooding the burning mine workings. It was the first time that an attempt to excavate a mine fire of that size
177:. As of 2000, the site of the Carbondale mine fire was being checked regularly to verify its containment. The fire forced approximately 1000 residents to evacuate, caused millions of dollars in damage, and destroyed approximately 500 buildings.
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in the vicinity of the
Carbondale Mine fire. The major seams in the area include the Grassy seam, the New County seam, the Clark seam, the Dunmore Seam #1, the Dunmore Seam #2, and the Dunmore Seam #3.
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The
Carbondale mine fire received notoriety in local newspapers in its early years, and excavation attempts of the 1950s and 1960s were covered in the May 1960 issue of
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concentration of the
Carbondale mine fire ranges from nearly 0% to approximately 0.4%. The concentration of methane can be as high as 500 parts per million.
119:. The temperature of the fire was as high as 750 to 900 °F (399 to 482 °C); hot enough to melt the thermometers used to gauge the temperature.
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32 of the boreholes installed by the Office of
Surface Mining in 1986 have 6-inch internal diameter casings and the remaining two have 4 inch casings.
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them with carbon monoxide. Some time later, several dozen people were poisoned by carbon monoxide from the fire, but there were no fatalities.
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In 1959, the federal government designated the West Side of
Carbondale as an "urban redevelopment district" due to the Carbondale mine fire.
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had been made. In the 1950s, boreholes were dug around the perimeter of the fire and filled with a variety of materials, including
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featured a story on the fire in 1963, saying that the excavation effort was moving more earth than the construction of the
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The temperature of the coal in the
Carbondale mine fire ranges from 50 °C (122 °F) to 290 °C (554 °F).
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pits of the Hudson Coal
Company's Powderly Mine. The pits had dirt and outcroppings of rock containing hidden coal.
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457:"location of the former Carbondale mine fire. This mine fire site is now a football field....2014 (page 654)
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The first fatalities of the fire occurred in 1952, when the fire spread under the house of a couple and
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Unlike many mine fires, the
Carbondale mine fire lacked "noxious odors". There are, however, irregular
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consisting of eleven three-story buildings. The dump where the fire started was in former
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By 2014, the fire was confirmed to have been extinguished and the area was redeveloped.
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The Carbondale mine fire was extinguished or contained by 1972 or 1974. In 1986, 34
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The Carbondale mine fire began in either 1943 or 1946 when a fire in Carbondale's
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Unseen Danger: A Tragedy of People, Government, and the Centralia Mine Fire
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443:"Chapter 25. Anthracite Coal-Mine Fires of Northeastern Pennsylvania".
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447:. Vol. 3: Case Studies – Coal Fires. 2015. pp. 651–665.
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Mine Fire Diagnostics Applied to the Carbondale, PA Mine Fire Site
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In the 1960s, the area of the fire was inhabited by 1300 people.
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Fire Underground: The Ongoing Tragedy of the Centralia Mine Fire
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were installed at the site of the Carbondale mine fire by the
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The Carbondale mine fire spread considerably faster than the
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Book inspired by mine fires in area to be released in May
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Here and There: Reading Pennsylvania's Working Landscapes
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features a mine fire based on the Carbondale mine fire.
252:"Coal mine fires burning under 1,200 acres in Pa"
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471:The West Side Carbondale Pennsylvania Mine Fire
300:The West Side Carbondale Pennsylvania Mine Fire
336:Ann G. Kim; Thomas R. Justin; John F. Miller,
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81:in the area, which is typical of mine fires.
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47:The Carbondale mine fire was located in the
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533:History of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania
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445:Coal and Peat Fires: A Global Perspective
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157:plan proposed smothering the fire with
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250:Patrick Kerkstra (August 29, 2002),
88:Physical and geological description
453:10.1016/B978-0-444-59509-6.00025-9
391:Bill Conlogue (October 28, 2013),
16:Coal seam fire in Pennsylvania, US
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27:in the West Side neighborhood of
469:Kathleen Purcell Munley (2013),
298:Kathleen Purcell Munley (2013),
111:and interspersed with layers of
55:. It was in the vicinity of an
33:Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania
397:, Penn State Press, p. ,
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362:David DeKok (April 1, 2000),
72:Columbia County, Pennsylvania
475:University of Scranton Press
304:University of Scranton Press
74:, but was somewhat smaller.
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543:Disasters in Pennsylvania
197:The Saturday Evening Post
538:Carbondale, Pennsylvania
175:Office of Surface Mining
368:, iUniverse, p. ,
92:There are at least six
528:Fires in Pennsylvania
417:David DeKok (2009),
226:Laurel Run mine fire
21:Carbondale mine fire
221:Centralia mine fire
68:Centralia mine fire
501:, February 2, 2014
257:The Baltimore Sun
209:The Hollow Ground
57:apartment complex
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202:Panama Canal
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148:asphyxiated
49:Coal Region
522:Categories
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232:References
207:The novel
194:magazine.
94:coal seams
61:strip mine
29:Carbondale
171:boreholes
132:city dump
79:snowmelts
35:, in the
25:mine fire
505:June 24,
215:See also
137:sediment
348:June 1,
263:June 1,
159:dry ice
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23:was a
480:Canal
343:(PDF)
113:slate
507:2014
425:ISBN
399:ISBN
370:ISBN
350:2014
265:2014
141:sand
139:and
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103:The
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