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An abandoned stretch of roadway that snakes through a mountainous region of Pennsylvania known as "Graffiti Highway" is now getting covered in dirt after a reported spike in crowds during the coronavirus pandemic.
Pennsylvania State Route 61 has been closed since 1993 due to damage from an underground mine fire in the nearby town of Centralia, about 60 miles northeast of the state capital of Harrisburg. The pavement on the roadway eventually was covered with graffiti, which then became its own tourist attraction.
In recent weeks, though, as the coronavirus pandemic has swept the nation, closing schools and forcing people to work from home, officials in Pennsylvania said there has been a spike in visitors.
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Schuylkill County local news website Skook News reported on Monday that hundreds have visited the Centralia-area site, drawing emergency personnel to various incidents.
A dump truck with Fox Coal Company dumps a load of dirt onto of the Graffiti Highway outside of Centralia, PA, Monday, April 6, 2020, while working to cover up the tourist denotation. (Jimmy May/Bloomsburg Press Enterprise via AP)
“It’s ridiculous,” Tom Hynoski, Centralia's secretary, fire chief and emergency management agency director, told the Daily Item. “Oh my God, it’s crazy. They're supposed to be staying home due to the COVID-19, but they're coming from New York and New Jersey to be here."
The groups proved to be the last straw for the property owner, Pagnotti Enterprises, which purchased the property from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation in 2018, according to the Daily Item.
The landowner hired Fox Coal Company to haul dirt to cover "Graffiti Highway" after people trespassing became a liability, according to Vincent Guarna, the company's president.
"I think a few weeks ago, there was a fire there, people just starting fires," Guarna told WNEP-TV. "They're doing a lot of damage to the community there, and it's time that ends right now."
Guarna said that it should take between three to four days to completely cover the roadway with dirt.
A dump truck with Fox Coal Company dumps a load of dirt onto the Graffiti Highway outside of Centralia, Pa., Monday, April 6, 2020, while working to cover up the tourist denotation. (Jimmy May/Bloomsburg Press Enterprise via AP)
"We'll bring in approximately 400 loads of material, and then we'll level it off, and then we'll probably plant it, and hopefully there will be trees and grass growing there," he told WNEP-TV.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has warned that the Centralia Mine Fire area is "extremely dangerous."
"Walking and/or driving in the immediate area could result in serious injury or death," according to the agency. "There are dangerous gases present, and the ground is prone to sudden and unexpected collapse."
The history of the roadway has been a source of fascination for decades.
A raging fire was sparked beneath the town of 2,700 residents in May 1962 after municipal employees tried to burn trash at a garbage dump and ignited an exposed coal seam. Decades later, the fire is still burning and the former coal-mining municipality is considered a notable American ghost town.
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In the years since the initial blaze, extreme heat opened fissures that leaked dangerous levels of smoke and carbon monoxide, forcing the government to issue evacuation orders in 1981.
The underground fire in Centralia has burned since 1962. The intense heat ruptured the earth and leaked dangerous smoke and gases into the community. Experts say the fire may burn for another century. (iStock)
But even after the nearly 1 mile stretch of Route 61 closed, the roadway continued to draw tourists to look at the fissures.
The landowner has started to cover the Graffiti Highway, former Route 61, right, with dirt on April 6 near Centralia, Pa. The Byrnsville Road, left, bypasses the abandoned section of Route 61 and the borough of Ashland can be seen in the distance. (Jimmy May/Bloomsburg Press Enterprise via AP)
Reactions poured in on Twitter to the news of the highway's burial.
"Thanks to the stupidity of several hundred people who came here during the pandemic, Graffiti Highway is gone forever," one user wrote.
Another person shared "RIP" to the graffiti highway in Centralia.
"They’re ripping it up and filling it in because hundreds of tourists kept congregating there over the weekend instead of STAYING HOME," she wrote.
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Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf last week announced that schools statewide would remain shut "until further notice" and the stay-at-home orders intact until April 30 to deal with the growing coronavirus crisis.
As of Wednesday, there are 14,956 COVID-19 cases reported and at least 250 deaths in Pennsylvania, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Fox News' Stephen Sorace contributed to this report.
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