10TV Investigative Reporter Paul Aker has learned the problem stems from trash so thick, even firefighters struggled to get through it.

A woman is forced to leave her home after she was buried in debris. On Friday, the City of Columbus forced a woman out of her home on the 2900 block of Howey Road.

10TV Investigative Reporter Paul Aker has learned the problem stems from trash so thick, even firefighters struggled to get through it.

Firefighters responded to a medical call at the home in late May. When they arrived, they could not locate the woman because she was under a pile of debris, according to a Franklin County Municipal Court document.

A firefighter wrote that he had to "dig" the woman out. In all, it took firefighters 40 minutes to get her out, the firefighter wrote.

Pictures obtained by 10TV show the home brimming with garbage.

Neighbor Anna says the place also smells. "It's bad. It's really bad. The smell," Arrowood said. "You could smell it from the porch."

Arrowood says she watched as her neighbor lived the life of an apparent hoarder. She says her neighbor treated the place like a garbage pit.

"I was taking food to her. And when she would get done eating, she would just lay it on floor and then walk on it," Arrowood said.

On Friday, city officials came out and posted signs calling the place a hazard and forced the woman to leave.

10TV confirmed the woman was taken to Grant Medical Center on an undisclosed medical condition. Neighbors hope that means the mess will get cleaned soon and the woman who made it will learn to let go.

"I hope she gets help," neighbor Greg Benson said. "Obviously, if she's let her home get to that state, she needs help of some kind."