Nov. 21--SEBRING -- About a week ago, Sebring resident Donovan Fletcher and neighbors in the 4700 block of Fourth Street began complaining about a gas smell in the Highlands Homes subdivision.

It was discovered that there was a 1,000-gallon LP gas storage tank buried in front of a neighboring home. Then came the news that a second tank was buried partially next door and under the yard where Fletcher rented.

Fletcher said he has had to deal with this sickening gas odor at his home for eight days.

"It made me sick yesterday," said Fletcher on Thursday. "It made the neighbors sick and I have five small children."

He said Sebring Fire and Rescue came out to check for a gas leak and then a gas company came out, but living with the problem he wanted some action taken fast.

Sebring Police Cmdr. Steve Carr said his department was notified of the problem Monday and code enforcement officers issued a 48-hour warning to the property owners to fix the problem under the city's nuisance ordinance.

There was no gas leak, said Sebring Fire Chief Brad Batz on Friday, because the tanks are filled with water, although the pungent smell associated with the gas hung in the air.

The odor can work its way into the metal over the years, he said.

According to a previous report that appeared in March 2004, the tanks were probably left behind from World War II, after the community was built as government housing for noncommissioned U.S. Army personnel stationed at Sebring.

They were filled periodically by gas companies to supply gas through underground lines to the individual housing units.

Carr said Friday that ID plates removed from the two tanks were dated 1942 and 1943. The Army Corps of Engineers was contacted and if they are their tanks they said they would remove them without cost, said Batz.

"The guy from the Army Corps said that could take years," said Batz.

Meanwhile, the property owners will be held responsible for costs involved in removing the tanks, said Carr,

Liquid petroleum, or LP gas, is an odorless flammable gas, which is why gas manufacturers added thiol, also called amyl mercaptan, to it. The odor of thiol is often strong and repulsive in order to bring attention to possible gas leaks.

While the chemical added to the odorless LP gas is pungent, the smell isn't toxic, said Batz. But it could make a person feel ill, just as aging garbage or other strong odors might, he said.

It did leave an itchy-scratchy feeling in the throat, and that was with short-term exposure.

The property owner was issued a code enforcement warning Tuesday and was given 48 hours to fix the problem.