This Hellish Underground Fire Has Burned for 100 Years

Jharia, India has been on fire for nearly 100 years. Johnny Haglund documents what it's like living in an inferno.

Fires rage unimpeded just below the earth's surface in Jharia, India, slowly consuming a vast store of coal and occasionally opening immense chasms that swallow everything above them. Johnny Haglund documents what it's like living with such an inferno for The Earth is on Fire, which recently took second place at Pictures of the Year International for Science and Natural History Picture Story.

The best explanation is the fires, which started in 1916, are the result of coal mines that were improperly shut down. Twenty years ago, the earth opened and destroyed 250 houses in just two hours. Over time the flames have chewed through 41 million tons of the coal, worth billions of dollars. Today, some 70 fires are currently burning. People live amongst smoke and toxic fumes that constantly seep out of the earth, causing respiratory and skin problems. Haglund experienced the danger and discomfort while visiting Jharia and the surrounding region last year.

“At the end of every day I had a layer of coal on my clothes and my skin and sometimes and I often felt like my face was burning,” he says. “I had pretty heavy boots, but sometimes just walking around the soles almost melted off.”

To eke out a living, some people steal coal from the 20-plus mines, selling it in local markets or using it for cooking and heating. Though they might go unnoticed by authorities, these individuals often are injured or killed falling into fissures. Many of them are children, struggling up the mine's embankments with heavy loads.

“I have been [working as a photojournalist] for many years, and I never get used to kids suffering,” Haglund says. “I saw young kids---six or seven years old---carrying coal with no shoes on, breathing that air. It was terrible.”

Underground fires are notoriously difficult to put out. A similar fire in Centralia, Pennsylvania has burned for decades, eventually forcing most residents to relocate. Some experts say Jharia has enough coal to burn for another 3,800 years. Fires can be extinguished by sand, water, or cutting off the oxygen supply.

Efforts to relocate residents have been hampered by bureaucratic holdups and local resistance. Haglund says he spoke to many families who would gladly move, but said the government hadn’t offered them enough money and they can’t afford to leave on their own. “They feel stuck,” he says.