[NetBehaviour] The Continuing Mine Fire at Laurel Run

[Alan Sondheim]

The Continuing Mine Fire at Laurel Run

... I'm doing a talk at Haverford; part of it is on mine fires.
We know them first-hand. We've documented one in particular...

An anthracite mine fire began around 1915 in Laurel Run; homes
and buildings had to be demolished and most of the town
destroyed. Wikipedia reports the fire was out in 1973; my
brother Mark, Azure, and I have been there several times and the
fire was still active. But last time was 15 years ago. The area
is desolate, abandoned, overgrown, somewhat dangerous. We
returned today in the rain and wind, Keep Out and No Hunting
signs, trash and sounds of gunshots nearby. We found a number of
fumaroles and crevices, everything active. My eyes burned so
badly I had trouble seeing and we retreated down the hill. I was
also worried about the cameras; I've had some damaged before as
a result of photographing too close. We have video and stills,
none pristine in the rain. We used a Sony camera that also
recorded infrared. I was thrilled; the mountain was still alive.
Here are a few images; there's a whole biome at work here,
thriving on the fumes, the heat, the decomposing rocks and soil.

http://www.alansondheim.org/DSC00226.JPG
http://www.alansondheim.org/DSC06589.JPG
http://www.alansondheim.org/DSC06591.JPG
http://www.alansondheim.org/DSC06605.JPG
http://www.alansondheim.org/DSC06608.JPG
http://www.alansondheim.org/DSC06613.JPG
http://www.alansondheim.org/DSC06621.JPG
http://www.alansondheim.org/DSC06631.JPG