VIDALIA — Some Vidalia-area residents had to spend their Thanksgiving evening outside the house after an accident forced them to evacuate.

A one-half mile stretch of Mooselodge Road had to be evacuated after a motorist accidentally struck a propane tank between 3 and 4 p.m., Concordia Fire District No. 2 Chief Nolen Cothern said.

“The propane tank had been filled just a few days before, and it had a huge cloud of propane floating across the ground,” Cothern said.

It took approximately three hours for emergency responders to contain and clear the situation, Cothern said.