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Heating Oil Mishap Forces Woman Out Of Her Home

YEADON, Pa. (CBS) -- At the height of the holiday season, a Delaware County woman says she was forced out of her home.

"Dec. 23, I woke up. My two goddaughters were in the house. I woke up to fumes. I didn't know what it was," said Jonell Parker of Yeadon.

Parker is still out of her home, living in a hotel after learning the fumes she was smelling were from an oil spill in her basement.

She says the spill was caused by an oil company.

"My neighbor came over and he said he saw an oil company pumping into my house," said Parker. "He saw the guy pumping oil and then he glanced at my porch and noticed he was at the wrong house, ran to cut it off and then he left."

Parker doesn't use oil heat. Her home just has an old oil line inside the home that is sawed off.

So when the driver with the oil company, Oil Depot, realized his mistake, it was too late. Oil had already flowed in the home's sawed-off spout, into the walls of Parker's basement and seeped into the flooring.

"An environmental company came and ripped up the carpet. There is oil in the concrete," added Parker. "Now I have to get it tested for possible oil in the foundation of the house."

Despite all that it will cost to repair the damage to her home and the fact that she may not be able to live in the home for another month, she now wants to use her unfortunate situation to at least be a lesson to all homeowners out there with old oil lines.

"If your house used to have oil in the past, just make sure if there is a pipe still on the side of your house. Make sure it is capped and cemented off all the way through," said Parker.

A representative of Oil Depot said the company is still looking into how the mix up happened, but it plans on paying for all repairs to Parker's home.

The company representative also reiterated Parker's warning, that if you have a home with an old and unused oil line, it is important to have the line capped and cemented.

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