Hearts Under Fire in Centralia Fire If you want a story of community interest represented through film, then Centralia Fire is the one. Centralia Fire refers to anyone connected to at least one type of community: whether it's a city, a sports team, or a family. No one wants to be forced to leave their comfort zone. Centralia is a city, created in the 19th century due to the invention of coal, filled with diverse communities threatened by poisonous gases and toxins (deadly carbon monoxide and dioxide) after a fire burning waste spread beneath the city to since 1962 and is still under - or should I say on - fire. The documentary is about how communities within Centralia were stripped of their lives and families from a place they called home. The producers, Anthony "Doc" Mussari and Kathleen "Kitch" Loftus-Mussari, set the tone for an individual tone without the use of music or image fades. Viewers are able to establish their own separate opinions and understandings of the Centralia community. If fades and music had been incorporated, Centralia's message would have dissolved on its own. If you want to know what life is like in the short term, then Centralia is where you can find the answers. You see videos of town meetings where committees protested the inefficiency of government aid. There's also footage of Centralians' daily lives: riding dirt bikes, playing minor league baseball, sitting on porches or walking dogs, among the many pillars of pipes that release toxins from below. The essence of community life was prevalent, so I agree with one city person who said, “You have to live in a small town to know what it's like to live in a small town.” Doc draws you in and makes you one of the community members within Centralia with his exposition of the zoom-free atmosphere. It seemed like the film followed the lead of the TV show, You've been Caught on Candid Camera; interviewees and people at the town meeting had no idea they were being recorded by video cameras. It's as if the camera is hidden in someone's shirt pocket or glass frame. I'm amazed that not a single person in the film looked at the camera. In 2002, only fifteen people in ten homes keep the fire burning with their strong determination and love for Centralia. Even though the film was finished in 1992, 30 years after the Centralia fire began, the image still perfectly depicts how the lives of community members were changed forever and how their hearts were burned by the government..