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Information Added: Friday, March 8, 2002 - 1:14 PM
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Several hundred Hattiesburg residents returned home Thursday after the release of a flammable material forced evacuations, ordered Wednesday (3/6/2002) afternoon.

Authorities said about 30 gallons of the flammable liquid was accidentally washed into the city sewer system. The accident raised fears that gas vapors could escape into homes.

After the problem was discovered, city crews began flushing the sewer lines, diluting the waste and forcing it toward the north sewer lagoon on Lakeview Road.

After the initial evacuation, authorities ordered the evacuation of an addition 100 homes on five streets along the path of the sewer line. The total number of residents evacuated was not known, but two schools and two apartment complexes which contain about 300 apartments were cleared.

The waste product was washed from a tank at Mississippi Tank Co. sometime Wednesday morning, Sims said.

Danny Miller, Mississippi Tank's president, said lines were being examined to find out how the gas reached the sewer system. The leak could have occurred Wednesday morning when employees were burning off excess gas from a tank in a process called flaring, Miller said.