Inside 'real life Silent Hill' toxic town where the ground has been burning for 60 years

A small town in Pennsylvania has been deserted ever since a fire began raging beneath its inhabitants' feet over 60 years ago.

Centralia was once a hotbed for mining activity, with more than 2,700 resident, but now, it is almost completely empty, save a handful of people who decided to stay put while everyone packed up their things and fled.

The cause of the fire that led to the evacuation has never been pinpointed but it's believed to have started when the town council tried to clean up a local landfill before Memorial Day celebrations by setting rubbish on fire.

Although firefighters thought they had put the fire out, it spread underground into old coal mines and kept burning, becoming impossible to stop.

Smoke, cracked roads and dangerous sinkholes have made Centralia look like a ghost town and even inspired parts of movie Silent Hill.

Fewer than five residents remain in Centralia (Flickr/Peter & Laila)

Over the years, the underground fire caused serious problems as toxic gases leaked through the ground, causing many sinkholes throughout the town.

David Dekok, author of Fire Underground: The Ongoing Tragedy of the Centralia Mine Fire, explained: "Someone struck a match. As fire consumed the paper, black smoke rose. When most of the paper on the surface of the landfill was gone, the firemen poured water on it until they could no longer see flames. They left, believing the fire was out. Unfortunately, the fire had burned deeper into the many layers of garbage than anyone suspected."

In 1981, a 12-year-old boy named Todd Dombowski fell into a large sinkhole that suddenly opened in his family's garden.

Centralia in Pennsylvania has been on fire underground since 1962 (Flickr/Mike Kalasnik)

He was rescued, but the frightening incident convinced many people that the town was no longer safe.

Often called the real-life Silent Hill because of the town's thick fog and steam rising from the ground, the damaged roads and abandoned buildings are very similar to the setting in the film.

While the movie includes monsters and supernatural events, Centralia's strange appearance comes from the very much real underground blaze.

A handful of people stayed in the town ( Flickr/jesiehart)

Co-writer Roger Avary heard about what it was like growing up there from his father, a mine engineer.

"My interest in Centralia dates to an ancestor on the Marr side of my family, who was the defence attorney for the Molly Maguires, and the anthracite coal reserve rights which will eventually fall to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It all made for good thematic background," he explained.

The underground fires raging beneath the town's surface (Erica Freudenstein/Getty Images)

Comparing the real and fiction version of the town, Centralia.org explains: “In the town of Silent Hill, a thick blanket of fog and ash descend from the sky. While Centralia lacks falling ash, it certainly has plenty of fog, gasses, and steam venting from the underground mine fire.

"The town of Silent Hill also has huge cracks and fissures in the roads. These are found in Centralia too, especially along the abandoned section of Route 61.

The real life toxic town is said to have inspired the Silent Hill franchise (TriStar Pictures)

"Finally, in the movie it is eventually discovered that Silent Hill was abandoned 30 years before due to a coal seam fire. This is exactly what caused Centralia, PA to be evacuated and razed during the 1980s.

"Though it lacks the demons, cults, and evil spirits, Centralia has many of the other disturbing elements found in the film. In that sense Centralia, Pennsylvania is the real-life Silent Hill."