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Tenants flee apartment after AC goes out
By Zach Markovic, Zmarkovic@starlocalnews.com
Tenants at the Allenhurst Apartments complex, located at 1025 Military Parkway, have been without consistent air conditioning since June 21.
The city received complaints from the residents at the complex that evening and every day since in regard to no AC. Tenants said there would be repairmen working on the unit from time to time during the week but the AC unit would not stay on for long if they got it working.
Temperatures have surpassed 100 degrees every day since Sunday.
Vickie Cobb, a resident in the complex, said she was scared Child Protective Services might be called on her if she let her two children, a 17-year old son and 5-year-old daughter, remain in the apartments.
She said since Sunday her children have been staying at another home. Cobb herself, who works outside throughout the day, said she comes home, takes a cool shower and then goes and stays at another friend’s home. She said she can barely stand to be in her own apartment for long.
“It takes your breath away,” Cobb said. “And with the no air circulation it just gets worse. I am away from kids every day because they can’t keep the air conditioner fixed. I can’t cook my baby dinner.”
Some tenants are not able to escape to friends or family. Some tenants have been staying cool the best they can, but they have not been told when the AC unit will be fixed.
One tenant, who did not wish to be name for fear of retaliation from the apartment management, said their spouse was elderly and diabetic and the heat had begun to affect them severely. With the health complications and the now the heat from no air conditioning the spouse could not hold down food when they ate dinner in the apartment.
“It has been absolutely miserable,” the tenant said. “I am so scared for [my spouse] and what will happen to us in this heat.”
Jeff Blue, whose real estate group manages the property for an out of state owner, said they have been working on the problem since Friday and it has been a matter of getting the right parts out there. He said they have been able to get it working sporadically, but from what he understands from the maintenance crews, that the unit is not holding Freon.
Blue said they have supplied air conditioning units to five elderly tenants and a chiller unit was being brought out to the site Wednesday night. The unit arrived around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday the unit was not out there.
“We have been responding to this from the very beginning,” Blue said. “I want to get the AC working if nothing but for moral reasons. We are doing the best we can with the resources that we have.”
The city of Mesquite received complaints Thursday that the apartment did not have air conditioning. After sending inspectors onsite to monitor what has been done to correct the issue a citation was issued to the apartment complex. This will make the 11th citation issued by the city to the apartment complex. This is the first one regarding the air conditioner being down.
“We continue to monitor the situations at the apartment daily,” said Wayne Larson, city spokesman. “Our goal is to ensure the safety of residents of the apartment.”
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