DANVERS, Mass. (AP) – Kathy Parker said she was glad to be back in her own house Sunday after a pre-dawn explosion four days earlier drove her and her family into the pitch-black night as sirens blared and shattered glass crunched underfoot.

But the fear that gripped her and her daughters so tightly immediately following the ink and paint plant explosion had not completely disappeared.

“I’m a little apprehensive. It’s a little nervous feeling,” Parker said after returning to her house on Riverside Street. “I still don’t feel comfortable in total darkness. Hopefully that will pass.”

The Parkers were among six families who moved back into their houses after inspectors checked the utility connections and chimneys to be sure the blast did not compromise their safety.

“That’s very good news. From my point of view, that’s a milestone,” Town Manager Wayne Marquis said about the returning residents. He said the town probably will issue more occupancy permits Monday as soon as inspectors sign off on safety checks at other houses.

Residents of the houses closer to the obliterated building that housed CAI Inc. and Arnel Co. will have to find temporary lodging for several weeks or months until more significant repairs are completed at their homes.

At least nine buildings were damaged beyond repair and are expected to be torn down, town building inspector Richard Maloney said.

CAI Inc. and Arnel Co. were in a building full of chemicals located next to the Liberty Marina, near the intersection of Route 35 and Bates Street. The explosion at 2:50 a.m. Wednesday was felt by people as far away as New Hampshire, but no one was killed or suffered any serious injuries.

Marquis said he hopes Gov. Mitt Romney will declare a state of emergency so that affected residents and merchants can seek additional help from federal agencies, noting that the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency compiled information on 153 affected families on Friday and Saturday.

Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom said administration officials have worked on the matter throughout the holiday weekend and may have an announcement about an emergency declaration as early as Monday.

Fire Chief James Tutko said he said pleased with the “headway” that state fire marshal’s investigators were making at the blast site. Tutko declined to specify what the probe has revealed so far, but said the investigators worked late into Saturday night instead of suspending their work at the agreed-upon quitting time of 6 p.m.

Meanwhile, a jurisdictional dispute continued to simmer between the local investigators and a team of experts from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board in Washington, D.C. The local probers, comprising 10 state police investigators and two Danvers firefighters under the direction of the state fire marshal’s office, continued to deny access to the five-member team from the CSB.

Tutko has said the federal team was “uninvited” and “unwelcome,” but CSB spokesman Daniel Horowitz said his agency has statutory authorization to enter the site and gather evidence under provisions of the federal Clean Air Act.

“Our chairman has made it clear we’re not going away,” Horowitz said. “We’re going to be talking with the state fire marshal tomorrow (Monday) and we’re looking at a range of legal options.”