COLUMBIA, S.C. — Columbia, SC (WLTX) -- We're learning more about knocks on tenants' doors in the middle of the night at Allen Benedict Court apartments.
Many tell us they were told to leave their homes with little time to spare.
"To me, had jobs been done correctly, these people would have still been alive," said Lenore Wallace, a 2-year resident of Allen Benedict Court.
411 tenants of Allen Benedict Court apartments were forced out of their homes Friday and relocated to places nearby like the Cecil Tillis Center.
"We don't know when we'll have somewhere else to go," said tenant, Auralia Fritz.
Residents tell us the Fire Marshal went knocking close to 1 a.m.
"They went in and said they found a leak in my house. The problem I have with that is they left me in my house," said Wallace. "I laid down and went to sleep and could have died. Then this morning the man came and said I had to leave and that I was on trespass notice if I didn't."
Fritz says she barely had time to grab her pocket book, shoes and a jacket.
"I'd rather go somewhere else now. Knowing it's so old," said Fritz. "They said it's 75 years old, and they don't fix things fast. You'll be dead by the time they come and fix anything...My water heater, it's been off for about three months. When they came to fix it after two months, they found out a part was missing. So once the part was missing they left again, and it's still off. So I don't know if the gas is leaking still because the pilot light won't stay lit. I'm not exactly sure what's going on. They take so long to come fix things. I don't know what's going on. I'm thinking this is a blessing from God."
Fire crews found multiple gas leaks on the property.
"You can't put band-aids over craters. You can't do that," said tenant of five years, Peter Williams, who said he rented a hotel room for the night.
Residents tell WLTX this complex is a popular spot for emergency crews, specifically within the last four months.
"I smelled gas odors and you can't pinpoint it, but you smell it," said Williams. "The fire department has been out here, in the last four months, six times. Six times. I don't know what they did, but they've been out here at least six times."
Allen Benedict Court opened in 1940, a year before the U.S. entered WWII.
Most residents tell us they don't have anywhere else to live.
"I just think it's really unfair. Now everybody has to be replaced and people like me who have nowhere to go, I have to wait on the housing authority to figure out what to do next," said Wallace. "I'm also terminally ill and on dialysis. So it's a real struggle for me."
"It could have been me. It could have been my neighbor. It could have been anybody out here. These apartments are very old. They can't be maintained, they just can't," said Williams.
Investigators say tenants should not return to their units until further notice.
"Instead of just treating us like a bunch of homeless people, we're human beings and we have feelings like everybody else," said Wallace. "All of this could have been avoided if people would just do their job."