COLUMBUS (WCMH) — About two dozen residents of one neighborhood on the west side of Columbus are now in their fifth day of cleanup after raw sewage backed up in their basements. A contractor working on sewer lines in the neighborhood has accepted responsibility and has hired crews to help homeowners with the cleanup.

Residents it happened during a rainstorm last Thursday evening. They describe a river of raw sewage running down that street and “geysers” of sewage shooting two and three feet high out of their basement drains.

Doug Feyh says the cleanup has been a slow and tedious process.

“We’ve had Service Masters out here for three days,” Feyh said. “It’s just a complete disaster.”

Feyh says it happened so fast there was no time to salvage much of his extensive collection of Dale Earnhart memorabilia. His furnace and hot water tank are ruined.

The back up affected 28 homes.

The sewer contractor, Insituform, was installing a new liner inside existing sewer pipe. The company issued the following statement:

“We are currently investigating a sewer back-up that occurred last Thursday evening in the Hilltop neighborhood of Columbus. At this time, we are focused on getting homes cleaned up as quickly as possible and providing alternative accommodations to residents who need them. We regret the inconvenience to impacted residents and are doing everything we can to address the problem.”

Feyh, a Corrections Officer with the State of Ohio, says the stench in his house is still overwhelming and he has no idea when his family will be able to move back in. He’s missing work and his family is now living out of hotel. “This isn’t fun,”Feyh said. “I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy. I really wouldn’t. I’d rather it had burnt down than to have to deal with this, honestly.”