Officials say they are close to finalizing a plan to extinguish the Jeansville mine fire, and ensure that the hamlet doesn’t become the next Centralia.

Congressman Lou Barletta visited the site of the underground fire Wednesday morning along with state lawmakers and officials from the state Department of Environmental Protection. After the meeting, Barletta said that they are confident they can not only contain the fire, which was discovered four years ago, but extinguish it.“There is a plan, and they’re ready to put a contract out to contain the fire where it is, isolate it, and minimize the smell for the neighbors,” Barletta said.Officials said that they plan to hold another public meeting for residents in October, when they can reveal more about their strategy to fight the underground fire.While they are confident that the fire can be contained, state officials would not speculate about its current size. State Sen. John Yudichak said that at the upcoming meeting, they should have a better idea.“We understand the concern, the unknown of how big is the fire, how fast is it spreading. We believe we’ll have those answers at the fall meeting, and we’ll have a plan of action to extinguish the fire,” Yudichak said.He did say that the fire appears to be intermittent, with several unconnected hot spots flaring up at different times.Yudichak said that the fire should be able to get rid of the strong sulfuric smell that intermittently comes off of the property. DEP did air quality tests already that show that while the odor is offensive, it is not dangerous.There are currently 38 mine fires burning in the state of Pennsylvania. But what makes the Jeansville fire unique, according to Barletta, is that it affects an active mine. Mine operator Schuylkill Shaft discovered the fire in 2012, but officials believe it started long before that, on an abandoned mine adjacent to their site. DEP found newspaper accounts talking about someone burning trash on the site in 1972, which may have ultimately led to the blaze.“It makes it a more complicated situation, because of the investment he has made into the site has really made it a Catch-22 in trying to put this out,” Barletta said.Neighbors continue to wonder about the smells wafting to their property, and if the underground mine fire could possibly reach them.Neighbor Kristin Fergel said she had given little thought to the mine at the end of her street, until one day she was hit by a sulfuric smell that was so strong she thought it had to be something decaying.She expressed some frustration that it has taken this long to come up with a plan.“All the mine fires that there have been around the world, someone has to have a way to put it out,” she said.