Slow Burn

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Maps I. Previous Government Fire Abatement Measures, 1962-1973 II. Potential Trenches for Fire Containment, 1983

Centralia: The Slow Burn

Epilogue

“Where once there was familiarity with open doors and trusting hearts, in a community that could be your home anywhere in America, an invisible cancer grew. It’s the unseen, slow-moving nature of this underground burning that took Centralia apart.

“The human spirit doesn’t want to believe, see, or hear what can destroy our sanctified special places in the world. Renée Jacobs faithfully and compassionately documents in pictures and words the confusion, uncertainty, and fighting spirit of Centralia’s residents—and the painful destruction and relocation of the residents of this little Pennsylvania town. Slow Burn is a compelling story about—and for—all of us.”

—Shelby Lee Adams