Woman found dead inside Philly apartment after neighbors raised concerns about broken air conditioning units
A resident was found dead Wednesday inside a Holmesburg apartment building where tenants say they have been enduring dangerous heat without air conditioning during this week's record-breaking temperatures.
Philadelphia Fire Department officials confirmed crews responded to Park Terrace Apartments around 3 p.m. for a report of an unresponsive person.
Residents told CBS News Philadelphia the person who died was a woman in her 80s who lived on the same floor.
The resident's official cause of death has not yet been released. Officials said that information is not expected until at least Thursday.
The death came one day after CBS News Philadelphia reported from inside the apartment building, where residents described temperatures approaching 100 degrees inside some units.
Tenants said the building's air conditioning was supposed to be turned on more than a week ago, but never came on.
Residents told CBS News Philadelphia on Tuesday they feared the conditions could become life-threatening — especially for elderly tenants and those with health problems.
"There's 183 units — there's a lot of old people with health issues," resident Mary Laughlin said Tuesday.
Another resident, Lorrie Reilly, said some tenants are bedridden and unable to easily leave their apartments.
On Wednesday, Reilly said she saw first responders arrive before learning the resident who died lived just a few doors down.
"I saw something no one really wants to see," Reilly said. "She was lying on the floor, still wearing the oxygen mask firefighters had used trying to revive her."
Reilly said a loved one was also inside the apartment crying.
Residents said they are now questioning whether the extreme heat inside the building may have played a role in what happened.
Reilly said she worries about her own 86-year-old mother, Shirley, who also lives in the building.
"I can't take much more being here in the apartment," Shirley Reilly said.
In an email sent to residents earlier this week, management said repairs to the building's air conditioning system were underway and that air-conditioned common spaces — including a lounge and yoga room — were being made available to residents from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Some residents used those spaces Wednesday, but others said they should not have to leave their apartments to cool down.
"Not everyone wants to come down the stairs and sit in a public area just to get some cool air," resident Matthew Fekete said.
CBS News Philadelphia has reached out to the apartment management company, Rushmore Management, several times for comment regarding both the heat conditions and the resident's death, but had not heard back as of Wednesday night.
