An underground fire has been smoldering beneath a property near the former Westmoreland Glass plant in Hempfield Township since March, burning roughly 10 to 20 feet below the surface and pushing ground temperatures as high as nearly 600 degrees. The blaze has cracked the earth and opened sinkholes near the Chambers Avenue Extension, close to the old industrial site, the railroad tracks and the glass plant itself. Pennsylvania State Police now check the property daily to keep people out, and officials say the ground is too dangerous for anyone to walk on.
According to WPXI, the Hempfield Township Fire Department visits the site every day to make sure the smoldering blaze stays contained, while the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has inspected the property several times to assess potential environmental impacts. Property owner William Shay, who bought the old factory dumping ground in 2025, told WTAE that a lightning strike preceded the appearance of smoke the following day, and that waste and coal left over from the old glass factory have been burning ever since. Shay said surface temperatures have reached nearly 600 degrees at times, and that sinkholes could open while crevices have already appeared across the property.
Fire Department Keeps Daily Watch, Officials Say Spread Is Unlikely
Officials believe the fire cannot spread further and have said air quality is not currently an issue, per WTAE's reporting. The Hempfield Township Fire Department says it will keep monitoring the situation from a public-safety standpoint, though it has no timetable for when smoke will stop rising from the ground. Township officials have also assisted Shay by moving clay to fill in one section of the burning ground, the station's report notes.
Eric Nelson told WTAE that the site's infrastructure is not at immediate risk, though there have been discussions about the property, particularly an old tower structure. Nelson said his role has largely involved coordinating offices at different levels of government to keep the response moving forward. Shay, for his part, believes the plant's stacks may eventually come down on their own and says he wants the site leveled.
DEP Leads Investigation While Litigation Limits Comment
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection is leading the investigation into the fire, and agency staff have visited the site several times to look into the reported blaze and evaluate its environmental impact, according to WTAE. The agency said it cannot comment further because the fire investigation is tied up in active litigation before the Environmental Hearing Board. Officials have asked people to stay away from the property entirely and to avoid any areas with smoke, fire, unstable ground or other hazards until the fire diminishes.
Nelson told WTAE that a trench could potentially be dug as a fire stop to help extinguish the blaze, with a wall of fire-stop clay-type material used to push the fire back onto itself, followed by excavation once the fire burns out. The Office of Surface Mining describes a similar trenching method more broadly, noting that a trench dug ahead of an underground fire cuts off fuel and lets the fire burn out once it reaches the gap. Once the Hempfield site is addressed, Shay said he hopes to plant trees and grass and build a gazebo by the creek.
Underground Fires and Old Mines Are a Recurring Regional Hazard
Westmoreland County's underground fire fits into a broader pattern of hazards tied to the region's mining history. The Department of Environmental Protection has responded to nearly 600 mine-subsidence emergencies since 2017, according to TribLive, and Allegheny and Westmoreland counties together have at least 550 abandoned mine sites. TribLive also reported that in May 2022, a man fell about 25 feet into a mine shaft through a narrow opening in a backyard in Hempfield's Luxor neighborhood.
Similar underground fires have drawn scrutiny elsewhere. At the Rocky Top landfill west of Yakima, Washington, health officials said their plan was to smother an underground fire with a 3-foot layer of soil, as reported by the Yakima Herald-Republic. And near the Locust Gap mine fire, air-quality tests at seven monitoring locations found no detectable carbon monoxide or hydrogen sulfide over two days, according to WKOK. For now, in Hempfield, the fire department's daily checks and state police patrols remain the primary safeguard while the fire burns on beneath the old glass plant property.
