'This Can't Be Right': Brookside Manor Residents Frustrated After Being Without Heat Since Saturday Due To Fire Started By Gas Leak
LANSDALE, Pa. (CBS) -- A gas leak in Montgomery County has displaced some residents at an apartment complex. Eyewitness News has learned that residents at the Brookside Manor in Lansdale have been without heat since 5 p.m. Saturday because of a fire started by a gas leak.
The property management company asked residents to use community showers for hot water in the middle of a pandemic.
Multiple residents have continued to reach out to CBS3 with concerns about the apartment manager Morgan Properties.
They tell us this isn't the first issue they've faced and that their solutions don't match the problems.
Residents at Brookside Manor are bracing for another cold night.
"We're freezing," one person said.
PECO confirmed an underground fire knocked out gas to 155 units on Saturday. They tell us they're waiting on the complex to repair gas lines damage before they can restore service.
But a spokesperson for the property manager told Eyewitness News that they were waiting on PECO.
"Nobody wants to take responsibility for this," Danielle Gardner said.
And that affected residents were given space heaters and offered community showers.
Jaclyn Scarborough is one of the residents impacted and tells us the showers are in open units, they aren't locked and have no privacy.
"You have to wait in the living room as someone else is showering," she said.
And she's not willing to take the risk, especially during a pandemic.
"I haven't showered in three days," Scarborough said. "I haven't seen anyone cleaning them."
A Brookside spokesperson told us the community showers meet COVID safety standards.
Residents say the solutions they've been given aren't enough.
"I pay my rent every month. I held up my end of the bargain," Gardner said. "This can't be right to do this to people."
Eyewitness News has learned that because of our reporting those community showers have closed. Residents receiving an email with that late update.
Residents are now being told to stay at local hotels that are offering discounts. However, now there's confusion as to if those hotel costs will be covered by renter's insurance.
CBS3 has reached out to the American Red Cross and they said they were notified by the apartment complex on Saturday but were told that their services were not needed.
Residents were informed at 6:30 p.m. Monday that gas service would not be restored until Tuesday morning.
CBS3's Alicia Roberts reports.
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