I'm Kelly McEvers, and this is Atlas Obscura.

On Valentine's Day, 1981, nearly 45 years ago to the day, a 12-year-old boy named Todd Domboski was in his grandmother's backyard when the ground gave way under his feet.

It was a massive sinkhole, 250 feet deep.

Todd grabbed some roots and hung on while his cousin helped pull him up.

Todd's encounter with the sinkhole was the final warning that this place,

Centralia, Pennsylvania, was no longer habitable. Because the hole was

caused by a mine fire that had been burning for nearly 20 years. And it revealed that the top

soil was the only thing separating Centrelia from this massive fire just beneath the entire

town. Soon after, the town was almost completely abandoned.

Over the years, Centrelia has also attained a sort of cult favorite status.

We've covered it on the website and on the podcast before,

mostly with the framing that this is a place you cannot and should not visit.

But my guest today has a different take on Centralia.

He says the place is thriving.

And yes, he did go visit.

Colin Dickie is a writer and friend of the show,

and he's with me today to talk about the latest chapter

in Centralia's history

and how the place has changed in the 45 years

since that sinkhole incident. Hey, Colin.

Hey, thanks for having me on. So for listeners who are not familiar, can you just tell us the story of

how this town came to be known as the Burning Town? Yeah, so Centralia is in Lehigh Valley,

...