Episode 2: Let's Picnic at a Flaming Ghost Town - a podcast by J.W. Ocker

Centralia, Pennsylvania, is a ghost town...on fire. Beneath its grass blades, a coal fire rages that has burned for half a century and will burn for centuries longer. Smoke wafts over the sites where neighborhoods once stood. Roads choke on overgrowth. Pockets beneath the topsoil are waiting to cave in at the next footstep. The idea of the place is terrifying. But the reality of the place is...fascinating. Heck, I brought my family with me on one of my visits.

• Photos from my first visit to Centralia.


• Photos from my second visit to Centralia.


• GPS coordinates for the town: 40.804336, -76.342517 (but really, you just have to tell Google Maps to take you to Centralia)


• GPS Coordinates for the old damaged Route 61: 40.779370, -76.366882


• Want to learn about the oddities I visit in real time? Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, or Patreon.


• I also write books. Spooky books.

Further episodes of Odd Things I've Seen: The Podcast

Further podcasts by J.W. Ocker

Website of J.W. Ocker