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Ice Traps Woman Inside House For Weeks

CHICAGO (CBS) -- A Chicago woman has been basically trapped inside her home for weeks because her door has been encased in a block of ice.

River Bully told CBS 2's Ed Curran that a neighbor's leaking pipe is to blame.

Since 1950, Bully has lived in her Fuller Park home. For weeks now, she has been a prisoner, her back door surrounded by ice from a neighbor's leaking pipe.

She called 311, and a worker with the Chicago Water Department responded, but it didn't bring results.

"The water man did come out here on the eighth of January and went out into the street and said they would shut the water off," Bully said. "Evidently, they didn't cut it off."

Bully's disability makes it nearly impossible to use the steep stairs outside her front door.

Meanwhile, the back door remains frozen shut, covered in several inches of ice.

Ald. Pat Dowell agreed to ride with CBS 2 to the home and called the water department on the way.

Dowell promised something would be done.

"Some inspectors and a crew are coming out," Dowell told Bully. "I'm going to call the Department of Human Services to do a wellness check on your neighbor. What is his name?"

After visiting the home, Dowell called CBS 2 later Tuesday afternoon to report that squatters had been living in the home, and that the water is being shut off and the building secured.

The building's owner will get a bill for any repairs.

The next step will be to clear away the ice from Bully's home.

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