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UPDATE: Residents in Taylor Head Home After Natural Gas Leak

UPDATE — The last few people who were forced out of their homes because of a gas leak last week should be back in by about 4 p.m. on Tuesday. Officials sa...
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UPDATE -- The last few people who were forced out of their homes because of a gas leak last week should be back in by about 4 p.m. on Tuesday.

Officials said the gas should be back on for all the units in the complex in Taylor.

Crews just have to fill in some holes where the new gas pipes were installed.

TAYLOR -- Everyone who was forced out of their homes last week in Taylor because of a gas leak is expected to be back in their homes by tomorrow, one week after they were told to leave.

High school has its own set of challenges. So, imagine the challenge for high schoolers and siblings Janelis and Marcos who were not allowed home all this week.

"When this was evacuated I was pretty scared. My mom had to drive us early in the morning to go to school, so it was pretty hard to get back and forth. So, it's been hard, but I'm happy that I'm home," Janelis Echevarria said.

The Echevarria family was one of the last allowed back into their home at the Lackawanna County Housing Authority's development on Kennedy Boulevard in Taylor.

More than 100 units were evacuated last week when a resident noticed a natural gas leak. Housing Authority officials opted to replace all the pipes, which left the homes without heat and residents out for almost a week.

"That was the best option, we could have tried to repair it, but we felt as though replacing it was the way to go for everyone's safety," said James Dartt, director of the Lackawanna County Housing Authority.

The natural gas leak was discovered last Tuesday night and the Lackawanna County Housing Authority had the goal of having the entire gas system replaced by this Tuesday night.  In order to do that, crews from Kriger Construction had to work around the clock in some of the worst weather conditions so far this year.

"I would have preferred it if they just fixed what was broken and repaired it in the spring, and then did all this. Then we wouldn't be freezing. They had to pick the coldest week of the month, of the year, to kick us out," said resident Justin Petsko.

Officials from the Lackawanna County Housing Authority told Newswatch 16 they tried their best to avoid frozen pipes, but since it was so cold this past week, they did have a few frozen pipes that lead to some flooding issues. There are still about ten families displaced. They expect the natural gas work to finish up tomorrow and everyone should be back in their homes by tomorrow afternoon.

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