Sauk Village Neighbors Complain Of Frigid Homes
CHICAGO (CBS)—As temperatures drop to freezing outside, neighbors in one Sauk Village community say it has felt just as chilly inside their homes, where temperatures have recently dipped to about 40 degrees.
Winter is back, but the heat hasn't been on at an apartment building, where neighbors say their homes have been cold for weeks.
The residents say their pleas to get the heat fixed have fallen on deaf ears, and everyone has been doing what they can to stay warm.
Some neighbors admit to the dangerous act of turning on their stoves to warm their homes, while one resident said she wrapped her plant in plastic to keep it from dying.
Others have been bundling up in blankets and coats.
Barbra Villavaso said the building management office hadn't responded to their requests for heat, so she took her problem to Channel 2.
"I decided to call channel 2 and I didn't think you all would be so prompt, but you were and I appreciate it," Villavaso said.
By Monday night, the management office had changed their tune, telling CBS 2 the problem is being fixed and that they were providing space heaters to those without working heaters.
About 24 people in two buildings had been affected by the outage.
But Villavaso's thermostat now reads 68 degrees - a sharp contrast to the chill she felt this past weekend.
"It should have already (been) rectified before it got cold," Villavaso said.
