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Residents left in the cold at Wyoming senior living complex

Posted at 6:11 PM, Dec 28, 2017
and last updated 2017-12-28 18:11:55-05
 

WYOMING, Mich. - Senior citizens at Pinery Park Apartments are struggling to keep warm, forced to live in abnormally cold temperatures after a possible malfunction with the complex's heating system.

An anonymous tip to FOX 17 News informed our team about the issue on Thursday, leaving elderly residents and people with disabilities living in uncomfortably cold temperatures. One resident said he woke up to temperatures in his living room in the upper-40’s.

A handful of residents allowed FOX 17 into their rooms to use a laser light temperature gauge in the center of multiple apartments and community rooms. One community room we tested read 49 degrees. Joyce Platt, a resident of 11 years, says it’s too cold to even sleep in her own bedroom.

“I use my stove to circulate heat,” Platt said. “I had french fries and a hamburger, the temperature went up two degrees.”

According to law, living facilities in Wyoming are required to keep temperatures above 68 degrees.  So we reached out to management and also made multiple phone calls to the owners of the complex, based in California. FOX 17 did not hear back from either.

However, other findings inside the apartments were just as disturbing as the cold temperatures. A handful of senior citizens we spoke with said they were afraid to voice their concerns, worried the complex will punish them.

So we filed a complaint on behalf of everyone suffering at Pinery Park Apartments to Wyoming City Hall. Inspectors made a same day appointment and promised to fix any emergency problems they would find. Those inspectors left around 4:30 p.m. to file paperwork on our complaint. Supervisors in the office of inspections said they will be making their findings known to the public after the new year.

Those same inspectors also said the apartment’s certificate is good until January 2019, which means the complex recently passed an inspection. Residents say this concerns them, especially given the cold temperatures they’re being forced to endure over the holiday season.