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Units at East Hills apartment building without heat amid below-freezing temps

More than a dozen without heat in Pittsburgh apartment building
More than a dozen without heat in Pittsburgh apartment building 02:00

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — More than a dozen units at an apartment building in the East Hills of Pittsburgh are without heat, with sub-zero temperatures in the forecast for Wednesday. 

Eighteen units are without heat at the Maple Ridge Apartments in the East Hills. Residents have been getting on Pittsburgh Regional Transit buses to warm up. 

"I feel like everybody needs a place to be warm, you know, instead of having to go to the cold and find one," said Ashley Lee, who lives in one of the units without heat with her five children. 

Tenants said they are using their ovens to heat their apartments.

City, county and state leaders, including Councilman Khari Mosley, showed up at the complex at 8 Tuesday morning.

He explained the buses are a short-term fix as the Department of Permits, Licenses and Inspections checks the units without heat.

"To really check the status of those apartments and if we deem those to be uninhabitable, folks will be moved to a hotel," Mosley said. 

Heated blankets, jackets and clothing have been donated not only for residents without heat but for others who were displaced after a fire ravaged one of the other complexes three weeks ago, killing a 2-year-old girl

According to Mosley, the owners are in Seattle. However, New York-based MMS Group manages the property. 

"We don't have any representation from ownership or management on site and we find that very distressing as well as just the manner in which they dealt with the tenants as well as how they dealt with us, it was very disrespectful," said Mosley.

Tenants say it's just one thing after another.

"We need to be removed," Lee said. 

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