Jimtown
© Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc.A noxious smell blanketed several blocks for more than four hours.
Neighbors say Strange Odor "smelled like 1,000 sharpies blew up"

Neighbors in Jimtown say yesterday evening a noxious smell blanketed several blocks for more than four hours prompting the fire department to investigate.

Neighbors say they first noticed the odor around 7:30 last p.m. and it lingered for several hours. They say after being outdoors for a short period of time they became dizzy, disoriented, and had difficulty breathing.

"It was awful. It was ungodly," said William Givens.

From Columbia to near Garvin Park, "I couldn't stand it. It was just nasty," said Charles Utley.

The neighborhood is questioning what was in the air last night.

"It smelled like 1,000 sharpies just blew up out of nowhere. It was disgusting," said Utley.

"You could taste it, you could smell it, you could feel it," said Givens.

"It would get to where we would come outside and it was unbearable. It would hit us and we would get dizzy and have to go back in the house," said Josh Lindenschmidt.

One explanation would be the sewer.

"No, that's not a sewer smell. It had something to do with some kind of chemical," said Utley.

"I don't believe chemical smells like that are going to come from a sewer. This smelled like fingernail polish remover, sharpies, mixed with a house burning down," said Lindenschmidt.

Neighbors say the streets were filled with firefighters trying to track down the source of the smell.

"There were firefighters all over the place. They knocked door to door asking people questions. Nobody could figure out what the heck was going on," said Lindenschmidt.

Some neighbors suspected the smell was coming from a meth lab, but they say firefighters said it wasn't likely.

"The firefighters said it wasn't a meth lab because a meth lab isn't as wide of a range, it's limited range. This was for blocks," said Lindenschmidt.

Neighbors say firefighters searched for around three hours.

"They were looking in the weirdest places, but they couldn't find it," said Givens.

"They had their wands, their detection wands and apparently nothing. They couldn't find anything," said Lindenschmidt.

The strange odor has since faded, but neighbors are still feeling a bit uneasy and looking for answers.

"We were worried all night last night. What we were breathing and what was going on," said Lindenschmidt.

"Nobody still knows what it is. I'd like to go to sleep tonight knowing what I inhaled," said Givens.

We are still waiting on a response from the fire department.