Editor’s Note: A plumbing contractor has made temporary repairs at Camelback Village. As of 6 p.m. Saturday, residents were able to turn the heat back on.
WASHINGTON — They’re working to restore it, but for a day — in this cold — dozens of residents of an Olney condominium are without heat.
Standing outside in the frigid temperatures, Ralph Frey is furious. He says he’s keeping his six- and ten-year-old kids bundled up because that’s all he can do. Inside his condo it’s about as cold is it is outside.
“Last night, we all had to sleep in my room, all four of us and the dog. It’s a massive inconvenience,” Frey says.
His is one of two dozen condos in Camelback Village not getting heat from the boiler system.
“I’m upset. Half my neighbors are elderly, some have little kids and not everybody has places to go,” he says.
A note from property management posted Saturday says a contractor digging Friday hit a Pepco line. Pepco restored the outage by 7 p.m., but says it put a stop order on the site for safety concerns. However, that stop order was preventing any other contractors from working there.
Tony Martella with the condominium’s property management company, Comsource, released this statement about the work after we requested a response to the issue.
“They have located the pipe, now they are looking for the damaged area of the pipe where it is leaking. Our goal is to place a temporary clamp on the pipe where it’s leaking so that we can restore heating. I cannot tell you at this time when that will take place. We have contacted a representative of Montgomery County Shelter to help relocate anyone who needs help this evening.”
Nicholas Morici with Pepco says it’s working towards a solution, hoping to resolve the issue by Monday at the latest.
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