"They moved her out:" Woman's home condemned, filled with dangerous fumes

MILWAUKEE -- A Milwaukee resident is forced out of her home -- and it's not because of anything she did. The home is condemned and her neighbor may be to blame.

All of the pumps at Villard Food and Tobacco were closed Tuesday, August 18th. No one at the corner of 76th and Medford was getting gas. That is, unless you count the woman who lives in the house directly next door.

"They moved her out.  They put her in a hotel and next thing I know, she's up north," said Jeffrey Coleman.

Coleman says his 74-year-old neighbor was kicked out of her home last week when investigators with the DNR, EPA and Milwaukee Fire Department showed up.

"They surrounded the street, had the whole street blocked off," said Coleman.

The home was condemned just four hours later. Officials tell FOX6 News off camera the home was filled with dangerous fumes. A petroleum tank at the station next door allegedly leaked -- seeping into the homeowner's basement. Another neighbor told FOX6 News the woman breathed in the fumes for days before officials came to the neighborhood last Thursday.

Fire officials say the hazardous materials team got flammable readings in the basement. Now, Coleman is convinced his home could also be impacted.

"You're the first one I've talked to that's really given me some answers," said Coleman.

Ron Roberts with the Department of Neighborhood Services tells FOX6 News the gas station was recently served with an emergency order to address the suspected leak. That may be the reason for all the work now taking place at the property. The store's owner simply told FOX6 News, "no comment."

FOX6 News made multiple calls to the homeowner -- they were not returned. We're told by friend off camera that the woman remains hopeful she will be able to return to her house at some point in the near future.