Residents in Edmonton aren鈥檛 just battling extreme cold temperatures outside 鈥� for a group of condo dwellers without proper heating, frigid temperatures have seeped indoors.
Amid extreme cold warnings blanketing the entire province of Alberta, a crucial air unit in a downtown Edmonton apartment building is pending repairs, forcing some residents to resort to desperate 鈥� and dangerous 鈥� alternatives.
A woman who lives in the Jasper Avenue building told CTV Edmonton that she鈥檚 using her stove to heat her home. She even moved her bed into the kitchen to sleep beside the appliance, keeping the oven turned on and the door open throughout the night.
鈥淚 know it鈥檚 dangerous,鈥� the woman, named Aliyah, told CTV Edmonton. 鈥淪ometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and I鈥檓 like, is there going to be a fire?鈥� . . . I鈥檓 that cold.鈥�
The Edmonton resident also wears a coat indoors to keep warm.
According to the Cambridge Lofts condo board, the heating unit that broke down earlier in the week is responsible for warming all common spaces. Without the additional heat, each home is impacted by the frigid temperatures.
Erika Berney, another resident of the Edmonton condo, said despite cranking her thermostat to the highest temperature, the temperature inside her condo is hovering above the single-digit mark. All the while, hydro bills continue to rise.
鈥淧aying 350 bucks to heat a 550-square-foot apartment is just unmanageable,鈥� Berney told CTV Edmonton. 鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 be able to do it. That鈥檚 why I rented out.鈥�
The condo board treasurer told CTV Edmonton that the board doesn鈥檛 know when the air unit can be fixed.
鈥淲e鈥檙e doing the best we can right now to coordinate getting the parts, a crane in to get this all replaced, and get heat back to the common spaces,鈥� treasurer Myles Chykerda said.
鈥淲ithout that common space heat, it is putting more stress on individual units.鈥�
The board is also working on adding space heaters to all the common areas in the meantime, and eventually replacing all the windows.
With a report from CTV Edmonton
