Massachusetts family smelled something foul days before Thanksgiving, they went outside and couldn’t believe what delivery person was doing

A Massachusetts family’s Thanksgiving plans just got destroyed after a terrible delivery mistake flooded their basement with hundreds of gallons of heating oil earlier this week. The incident occurred on Tuesday, forcing everyone to leave the home. It completely ruined the family’s holiday hosting plans just days before they were ready to welcome 20 people for dinner.

According to the NY Post, the problem started when Fawcett Energy, an oil company, was supposed to be making a normal fuel delivery at a home on Linwood Street in Malden, Massachusetts. Instead, the driver showed up at the wrong address completely. He went to a house on Linwood Street in Medford, Massachusetts, which is about 10 miles away from where he was supposed to go.

This is exactly the kind of mistake you fear happening during the busy holiday season. Homeowner Dan Nguyen said that his wife and brother-in-law were at the Medford house when they noticed a terrible, bad smell spreading through the rooms. They went outside and found the delivery person actively pumping oil into the pipe connected to their house.

The home had no oil tank for five years

The reason the situation turned into a disaster is because the Medford home didn’t actually have an oil tank. The tank was removed five years ago, but the pipe inlet stayed there. That meant the 385 gallons of heating oil being pumped into the house went straight onto the basement floor.

Medford Fire Department Deputy Chief Nicholas Davis explained why the delivery driver didn’t realize the mistake sooner. Normally, when you’re filling an oil tank, you hear a whistle when the tank gets close to full.

That sound is the driver’s signal to stop the oil flow. Since there was no tank in the Medford basement, there was no whistle, so the oil just kept flowing. This incident isn’t the first time consumers have faced shocking discoveries from major companies, similar to a woman’s disturbing Pillsbury biscuits find.

Because of the dangerous fumes and the huge amount of the spill, the home was immediately declared unsafe and the six residents had to leave. For now, the family can’t live there, which is a major problem right before the holidays. Nguyen told the media that he had to call everyone to cancel the Thanksgiving dinner he was planning to host.

Nguyen’s brother, Tien, noted that everything in the basement was completely “messed up,” and they have no idea how long it will take until they are allowed to return to the property. For now, the six residents are staying at a relative’s house with whatever belongings they were able to save. The Red Cross is also stepping in to help the family during this crisis.

Despite the fact that his basement is now covered in red fuel and his family has been forced out just before the holiday, Dan Nguyen remained surprisingly understanding. He told the local outlet that he accepts that “Someone made a mistake, you know, sometimes they put a wrong address.” That’s an amazing level of patience, especially when your home can’t be lived in because of a delivery error.

While the family figures out their temporary living situation, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and the building inspector are both looking into the incident. It’s currently unclear how long the cleanup and repair process will take, but when you’re dealing with hundreds of gallons of spilled heating oil, you can expect a long, expensive road ahead. In other Massachusetts news, MIT rejected Trump’s controversial education compact over concerns about academic freedom.