Underground fire concerns in Columbia County
WILBURTON NUMBER TWO, COLUMBIA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — There are fears in a small Columbia County community that an underground fire burning near their community may turn into Centralia 2.0.
Centralia was left a ghost town by an underground mine fire that has been burning for some 60 years.
Residents of Wilburton Number Two reached out to the I-Team for help.
The folks 28/22 News I-Team Reporter Andy Mehalshick spoke with in Wilburton Number Two Tuesday are very concerned.
They want that underground fire put out sooner rather than later, saying =they fear for their health and their homes.
“Pretty much everybody’s fed up with it. We’re just like a small community. It doesn’t seem like anybody really cares about us,” said Wilburton Number Two resident Robert Papp.
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That pretty much sums up how people in this small community feel about the response to their concerns about an underground fire that is burning on Coal Company property that borders their community.
“It’s a lot of fumes coming up from the colliery, especially when it rains. We have intense fog. We’re getting carbon monoxide in our homes. It’s recommended to open your windows. It’s higher outside,” said Nancy Allen of Wilburton Number Two.
There was a video taken by a resident last Friday. She says it was smoke from the underground fire and it smelled like sulfur.
The I-Team spoke with Vince Guarna, the president of the Fox Coal Company. He showed us what is being done to put the fire out.
“It’s going to be a few more months just because of the size of the bank. We moved approximately 300,000 yards of material off the top of it. It’s documented. We’ve been working almost every day,” Guarna said.
“What do you want to tell the folks up there? They are very concerned,” Mehalshick asked.
“First off it’s a bank fire. There’s no coal veins underneath us that can get caught on fire or spread to. Right now, we have it cut out, stopped on four sides. It can’t go no more to the north, south, east, or west,” Guarna explained.
But these folks are fed up. They say their lives have been turned upside down.
“What do you want to see cone here?” Mehalshick asked.
“Have the fire put out, bring more help in. Every department that can help anywhere get the mine fire out. We’re all getting sick,” Gaughan stated.
Guarna tells Mehalshick they monitor carbon monoxide levels every day and have not detected unsafe levels.
Residents tell a different story. They say they find higher-than-normal levels almost every day.
The I-Team has confirmed that state and federal mining officials are monitoring the efforts to extinguish the fire.
28/22 News is still working the story and there’s more to come in the days ahead.
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