Lightning strike ignites buried waste, starting monthslong underground fire in Pittsburgh
By Christopher DeRose
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WESTMORELAND COUNTY, Pennsylvania (KDKA) — An underground fire continues to burn at the former Westmoreland Glass Company property in Hempfield Township, months after a lightning strike ignited buried waste material, including coal.
The factory closed in 1984, but during its decades of operation, tons of its waste were buried on the property, just across the railroad tracks from where the ruins of the old plant still sit.
The fire started last March and is burning an estimated 10 to 20 feet below the surface. Neighbors have reported seeing smoke rising from the ground, and KDKA cameras captured smoke venting from several openings on the property.
The affected land is privately owned by Will Shay, who invited media to tour the area beside his home on Monday.
Shay says he wants people to stay away from the area because of the potential dangers. He is also hoping officials can soon develop a plan to extinguish the fire so he can eventually use the property for its intended purpose.
“I purchased this property to build a small memorial to my late wife,” Shay said. “And that’s what I really want to do, and it is something that concerns me. You just don’t know what’s going to be allowed to be done to the property after everything is taken care of. I just want to be able to use it for what I bought it for.”
Hempfield Township and the Hempfield Township Fire Department say they are monitoring the situation from a public safety standpoint.
Shay says township officials and state Rep. Eric Nelson have been amazing in coordinating with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to assess the fire and develop a strategy to extinguish it.
“DEP, there are about five different entities of the DEP involved in this,” said Nelson. “So individuals that have experience with underground fires, water quality, we have their environmental team, so the DEP has done a good job and they are coordinating the core drilling to make sure we knew where this fire is and is it an immediate threat or is it something that we have some time to deal with.”
Officials are continuing to monitor the situation as they work toward a plan to address the underground fire.
In the meantime, the message from everyone involved is clear: Stay away from the property. In addition to being private land, the area around an underground fire can pose potential safety risks.
The Hempfield Township Fire Department’s full statement can be found on its Facebook page.
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