The Real Disaster Is Above Ground: A Mine Fire and Social Conflict

by J. Stephen Kroll-Smith, Stephen Robert Couch

In the 1950s Centralia was a small town, like many others in the anthracite region of Pennsylvania. But since the 1960s, it has been consumed, outwardly and inwardly by a fire that has inexorably spread in the abandoned mines beneath it. The earth smokes, subsides, and breathes poisonous gases. No less destructive has been the spread of dissension and enmity among the townspeople. The Real Disaster Above Ground tells the story of the fire and the tragic failure of all efforts to counter it.

This study of the Centralia fire represents the most thorough canvass of the documentary materials and the community that has appeared. The authors report on the futile efforts of residents to reach a common understanding of an underground threat that was not readily visible and invited multiple interpretations. They trace the hazard management strategies of government agencies that, ironically, all too often created additional threats to the welfare of Centralians. They report on the birth and demise of community organizations, each with its own solution to the problem and its diehard partisans. The final solution, now being put into effect, is to abandon the town and relocate its people.

Centralia's environmental disaster, the authors argue, is not a local or isolated phenomenon. It warns of the danger lurking in our own technology when safeguards fail and disaster management policy is not in place to respond to failure, as the examples of Chernobyl and Bhopal have clearly demonstrated.

The lessons in this study of the fate of a small town in Pennsylvania are indeed sobering. They should be pondered by a variety of social scientists and planners, by all those dealing with the behavior of people under stress and those responsible for the welfare of the public.

212 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1990

Reviews

[Jocelyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I chose to read this book for my anthropology class because I live relatively close to Centralia and wanted to learn more about the problem. Nonetheless, the book was more about the community falling apart and not about anything that really interested me. Honestly, the authors became quite repetitive with their insights into the "real disaster" and never answered questions that interested me like: in what jobs did these people work if coal mining was dead? (or was the end of coal mining an assumption on my part?) and where were these people relocated to? It was ok if you don't mind reading the same old conclusion for every chapter. I guess I also have the perspective of reading this 30 years after the book was written, but I could hardly feel any sympathy for the "cold side" residents.

[Danny Mcmurphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I like about this book is the attention the authors' paid to the history of Centralia and how this history factored into the ways the residents divided over what to to about the mine-fire. I like the story more than the jargon of sociology. It's a close-up look at the troubles small towns face when disaster creeps up on them.