15-foot-wide, 20-foot-deep hole opens overnight on Lincoln Street; rescue crews rappel into pit to recover vehicle
BLAKELY, LACKAWANNA COUNTY — A family on Lincoln Street went to bed Friday night with their Honda parked safely in the driveway. By 1 a.m. Saturday, December 27, 2025, the car had vanished into a 20-foot-deep sinkhole—the latest reminder that northeastern Pennsylvania’s coal mining legacy can still swallow pieces of the present without warning.
Firefighters from Blakely Hose Company No. 2 and a specialized crew from NEPA Towing and Recovery worked through the early morning hours in snowy, freezing conditions to extract the heavily damaged vehicle from the gaping hole at 1157 Lincoln Street. Nobody was inside the car when the ground gave way.
“I never ran into one that big,” said Fire Chief Ed Santarangelo, who estimated the sinkhole measured roughly 15 feet wide and 20 feet deep.
The dramatic recovery—captured in photos showing a tow operator suspended by harness inside the pit as firefighters steadied him with pike poles—took about an hour once crews rigged the vehicle with special straps. The older-model Honda emerged nose-first, caked in snow and mud, its body crumpled from the vertical plunge.
Borough officials are still investigating, but the culprit is almost certainly familiar to anyone who lives atop the honeycomb of abandoned anthracite mines beneath Lackawanna County.
Coal Country’s Ongoing Reckoning
Blakely sits squarely in Pennsylvania’s anthracite region, where mining operations dating to the 1800s left behind thousands of miles of underground tunnels, many unmapped. When wooden support beams rot or groundwater shifts, the surface above can collapse without warning.
The state Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation has responded to 578 subsidence incidents since 2017—75 this year alone. Pennsylvania has at least 5,000 abandoned underground mines across nearly half its 67 counties.
Saturday’s sinkhole is the latest in a string of collapses:
- Wilkes-Barre (June–November 2025): A massive sinkhole on Horton Street closed an entire block for five months. A second opened in August, causing water main breaks, gas leaks, and evacuations.
- Dunmore (June 2025): Sinkhole forced road closures just miles from Saturday’s incident.
- Mayfield (January 2025): Another mine-related collapse in the Lackawanna Valley.
The risk extends beyond Lackawanna County. The D&H gravity railroad—built from Honesdale in Wayne County to Carbondale in the 1820s—followed coal seams that cross county lines. Wayne County communities near the Lackawanna border, including Lake Ariel and the Carbondale area, sit near historically mined zones.
What Happened Saturday
Residents discovered the sinkhole around 1 a.m. and called for help. Crews found the Honda sitting nearly vertical, nose pointing into the darkness.
UGI and the water company responded alongside firefighters. Residents lost water and power temporarily as crews assessed utility lines.
A water main break occurred in the area—investigators haven’t yet determined whether the break caused the sinkhole or the sinkhole ruptured the pipe.
The house wasn’t evacuated because the car had been parked at the end of the driveway, which slopes away from the structure. The home appears stable.
Christmas inflatables lay deflated in the yard—a surreal backdrop as crews worked under portable lights. The car, once freed, will likely be totaled.
Is Your Property at Risk?
Property owners can check whether their land overlies known mine workings:
- Penn State Mine Maps: minemaps.psu.edu — Interactive map of underground mines
- DEP Risk Tool: gis.dep.pa.gov/msiRisk — Check your address
- Report hazards: Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation, 717-783-2267
Pennsylvania has offered mine subsidence insurance since 1961. More than 62,000 policies are in force. Coverage typically costs $100–$300 annually for up to $500,000.
Blakely Borough, population 6,657, is located 8 miles north of Scranton and 25 miles west of Honesdale.