WASHINGTON — As scorching temperatures continued Wednesday, inside some of the units at North Hills Apartments in District Heights hit upwards of 95 degrees.
"I can't breathe," said one tenant. "Can you breathe in here? So, if you wanted a free sauna just come here."
Dozens of residents told WUSA9 Wednesday night, that they haven't had working air conditioning for months.
"I can barely breathe. I be sweating, just sitting down," said Layla who told WUSA9 the temperature in her apartment has been in the 90s all week.
She and the other neighbors say they've sent e-mails and called the management company, but continue to get the runaround.
"They haven't accommodated us in any way. They haven't said anything about why the air is off. They say they'll try to figure it out, but no real concrete answer as to how or why or what they're gonna do to fix the issue," said Layla.
"If it's 98 degrees outside it's 108 inside," said Asia Hall, who also lives at the complex.
Another tenant, Leah Craig, invited WUSA9 inside her apartment where the wall thermometer read 90 degrees.
When Craig first noticed the issue, she says she went to the property office to find out what was going on. Instead of answers, she says they handed her a fan.
"Right now it says that it's 90 degrees and it says that it's cool," explained Craig. That temperature was with three fans blowing in her apartment.
Craig isn't alone.
"I got four fans in my house," said Dawayne, who lives on the other side of the complex. "There's no way I should have to buy four fans. I'm buying fans every week and it still ain't. I'm putting fans in the windows".
While they may have an ever-growing collection of fans, what the residents don't have is working AC and they are worried about the impact on their health.
"My girl has asthma," said Dawayne.
"I'm worried they might have a heat stroke in their sleep," said Craig, referring to her young children.
Despite trying to speak with the property office, neighbors say they've received no answers regarding why the AC is off or for how long.
"We been communicating with the rental office for months," said one of the neighbors. "No response at all."
While waiting for the AC to come back, residents have one message for management: get your priorities in order.
"Ya'll putting these dumb cameras in here that don't really work, then ya'll putting these dumb speed bumps in here," said Dawayne. "Fix the air! Fix the air!"
WUSA9 reached out to North Hills Apartments multiple times on Wednesday and Thursday. Thursday night, WUSA9 was sent the following statement on behalf of North Hills Apartments:
"We apologize to our residents for the air conditioning disruptions and understand the issues this has caused. The extreme heat wave impacting the region has strained our HVAC systems and limited the availability of repair supplies, technicians, and replacement units. We are working around the clock to make repairs and to install replacements when necessary. In the meantime, we have opened cooling centers onsite and are providing residents with portable air conditioning units. We will continue to keep residents updated as we work to restore air conditioning as quickly as possible."
Management also told WUSA9 that a letter went out to all residents Thursday with information about why the AC has not been working. They are asking residents who've been impacted to call (240) 455-7518 or visit the office so that a team member or contractor can be dispatched to diagnose and make repairs.
According to management, 10 HVAC technicians and two roving maintenance technicians were onsite making repairs on July 10, and that level of staffing will continue until all repairs are made.
They also wrote that the model unit at 6501 Hil-Mar Drive has been opened as a cooling center. The pool and second emergency cooling center in the pool house will open on Friday, July 12.
WUSA9 will continue to bring you updates as we receive them.
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