Residents at The Elton apartments in Phoenix report no A/C for weeks
The Elton residents say they haven't had A/C for weeks
Residents at The Elton apartments in Phoenix say they have endured weeks without air conditioning during the summer heat. One person has died, and a pregnant woman was hospitalized. FOX 10's Kenzie Beach has more.
PHOENIX - Dozens of residents at a Phoenix apartment complex say they have been living without air conditioning for weeks.
What we know:
An investigation is underway at The Elton near 24th Street and Thomas Road after one resident died, and a pregnant woman was hospitalized amid the outages.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes has given the complex until 5 p.m. Friday, July 18, to resolve the issue she calls "gravely dangerous."
"I'm appalled at the conditions these tenants were forced to experience, especially during the summer heat," Mayes said. "It is unacceptable."
By the deadline, tenants at The Elton apartment complex say their units are finally cooling again.
The backstory:
Residents at the Phoenix apartment complex say they have been without air conditioning since July 5, enduring Arizona's summer heat during some of the year's hottest days.
A pregnant mother, who spoke with FOX 10 before management intervened on July 18, reported her family had no A/C for more than five days before receiving a portable fan.
The Attorney General's Office states that portable fans are inadequate for cooling units in such heat.
Another pregnant tenant was hospitalized over the weekend with an apartment temperature reportedly reaching 97 degrees.
Last week, a 66-year-old man died in his unit, which lacked both A/C and a portable fan. FOX 10 is awaiting his official cause of death.
Matthew Grinage, a single father, sent his son to stay with a relative, deeming the living conditions unsafe.
"It's 95 degrees in here," Grinage told FOX 10. "I as a parent, I can't risk your safety ... With extreme heat they can't do this. I'm nauseous in here. I'm like genuinely sick. The feeling of working all day in the heat and then getting off of work and getting into a house that's even hotter than work, it's just, you can't even explain it."
Dig deeper:
"It's been out for 12 consecutive days completely," resident Avyanna Isom said.
Diego Diaz, another resident, recounted the outage, saying, "A/C went out on Friday, five in the morning. Told us it was going to be back on Friday at 1 p.m. and that never happened."
Isom said the temperature inside her apartment remained around 101 degrees. "I didn't have a portable A/C, so I didn't have anything to cool down my unit. So I was like, screwed," she said.
The lack of air conditioning during the Phoenix summer led one father to take his daughter and pregnant wife to the hospital.
The Elton appears to have fixed its A/C problems
It appears The Elton made the deadline to get its A/C units back up and running for residents. FOX 10's Lindsey Ragas spoke with residents after the deadline passed to see how they're holding up.
"My wife started getting sick Saturday, like, I'll say, at night because [of] dehydration. It was so hot in there," Diaz said. "We hit one point at 97 degrees in there. Got my little girl, too. I mean, neighbors saw me how I pulled out my little girl. Her nose was bleeding, had to take it to the doctor."
Tenants believe if the Arizona Attorney General's Office didn't intervene, the issue wouldn't have been resolved.
"I think if they didn't get involved, like this is what would still be going on, you know, I don't think this is acceptable. I mean, I don't know if they think about families here," Diaz said, referring to the management. "I'm not only talking about myself, but like people here have family. Happened with the old guy that passed out. I mean, it's just really sad."
Management at The Elton responded to the Attorney General's Office around 4 p.m., stating that all units except B-12 had functioning air systems and that apartment B-12 was expected to be restored by 5 p.m.
However, Isom expressed skepticism, saying, "Honestly, I'm not sure if it's going to stay on."
Tenants noted this isn't the first time they've experienced an A/C outage, reporting a similar issue last year.
What's next:
FOX 10 reached out to the apartment complex and it declined to comment.
What they're saying:
FOX 10 spoke with legal expert Bill Miller, an Arizona attorney, about the issue.
"When you’re in the 100 degree plus timeframe, it turns into something that becomes uninhabitable, it becomes something that is dangerous. And it’s not acceptable when you're below 85° the landlord will have some wiggle room or grace. But in this situation, I agree with Attorney General Mayes. This is outrageous," he stated.