Thanks I Was just about to post It.
After years of delay, state officials are now trying to complete the demolition of Centralia, a borough in the mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania that all but ceased to exist in the 1980s after the mine fire spread beneath homes and businesses, threatening residents with poisonous gases and dangerous sinkholes.
Steve Fishman, attorney for the state Department of Community and Economic Development, said "benign neglect" on the part of state and local officials allowed the residents to stay for so long.
No more.
Fishman told The Associated Press that the state is moving as quickly as possible to take possession of the remaining homes and get them knocked down.
"Everyone agreed that we needed to move this along," he said.
In 2006, there were 16 properties left standing. A year ago, the town was down to 11. Now there are five houses occupied with fewer than a dozen holdouts.
Centralia appears to be entering its final days.
a Columbia County judge decides next month how much they should be paid for their homes.