Heating
problems still are frustrating residents at an East Patchogue apartment
complex.
Seventy-five-year-old
Sandra Bell says she has resorted to using her oven and an electric fireplace
to stay warm.
She says
she has repeatedly called management at the Conifer Village apartment complex
about a broken heater in her apartment, but she is not getting answers.
“You’ve
got to have some kind of heat coming in here,” Bell says. “They’re not doing
nothing. I don’t know what to do.”
News 12
previously reported that Joanne Cady, 77, who lives in the same complex, says
the refurbished heater installed by the property owner was emitting noxious
fumes, which sent her to the hospital with carbon monoxide poisoning.
“It was
so severe that had I kept sleeping in this environment,” Cady says. ”I was told
I could have died.”
The
Suffolk County Health Department says it launched an investigation into
complaints about non-working heaters at Conifer Village in November.
In
another part of the complex, a 73-year-old resident who didn’t want to be
identified, says she made calls to building management about the lack of a
cover for her heater.
“I’m
afraid the cold will hit that hot thing and they’ll be a fire,” she said. “Or
they’ll be mold or something and I’m disabled and it’s very hard for me to get
outside.”
News 12
is told nine cases were investigated since then and heat-related violations
were cited for nine complaints. Bell also filed a formal complaint Wednesday.
The
health department has initiated legal action against the property owner.
Bell
hopes that will help restore heat to her apartment.
“I’m
broken from it so whoever can help, I need it,” Bell says.
News 12 reached out to the property owner but has not
heard back.