A coal fire has been burning in the tunnels under Centralia, Pennsylvania since 1962, and Congress put up $42 million to move the town away from it. Eight residents refused to leave, and in 2013 the state paid them $349,500 between them for the right to stay until they die.
On May 27, 1962, the borough of Centralia had a small housekeeping problem. The town landfill, an old…
