Fort Worth

Residents Heated Over Lack of A/C in Fort Worth Apartment Complex

Some Fort Worth residents say they've suffered through the summer heat in their apartment complex for days.

Despite repeated calls to complex management, residents of the Xander Apartments at 2508 Ridgmar Boulevard said it remained off and unfixed until this afternoon. When residents took their complaints to management, the leasing office doors were locked and phones were turned off.

Tenants said living without air-conditioning for three days has been a nightmare.

"When I came home from work my house was just so boiling hot, it's hot," resident Irene Martinez said.

Since Wednesday, tenants have had to go to extreme measures to keep cool during one of the hottest weeks of the year.

"This is my building behind me and all of the residents in that building slept on their patios because it's cooler outside that it is in the apartments," Megan Isrig said.

Isrig said she has had to get creative when it comes to keeping her pets safe.

"I had to pull frozen water bottles out of the freezer and my kitten laid on top of them and used them as a pillow, as a bed because it's so hot," she said.

Dozens of residents took their complaints to office management Saturday morning, but police were called when things got tense, and the leasing office was closed for the rest of the day.

"The office is locked, they are hanging up on people, they are not answering their phones so we are having no communication with the people are responsible for keeping us safe," one resident said.

In addition, the lack of screens on windows and a pool that is unusable leaves residents with few options and more questions than answers.

"At what point does it become a human rights issue? If it's this hot and you see an animal or child in a car, you're supposed to break a window and rescue that animal or child. I don't understand how this is any different?" Isrig said.

Fort Worth Code Compliance confirmed that enforcement officers worked with the management company to ensure the A/C was back on for residents by Saturday night.

NBC 5 reached out to the apartment complex for its side of the story, but has not heard back.

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