A senior living facility in Van Nuys has gone without air conditioning during some of the hottest days of the summer, causing some residents to temporarily relocate and raising concerns about health risks.
Family members of residents said the Fickett Towers building has not had air conditioning for 10 days. Bardia Amini's grandparents said temperatures inside have come close to 100 degrees.
"We are actually taking our grandparents out of the building because it's so hot in there," Amini said.
Sylvia Silvestri said her mother, Ingrid Silvestri, has lived in the building for 10 years and, although there have been air conditioning issues every summer, this is the longest the building has been without cooling.
"She's suffering even though we have fans and her friends are calling her crying that they have health problems," Sylvia Silvestri said. "I'm a registered nurse. Elderly people live here, I know what heat can do to the elderly."
Ingrid Sylvestri said the facility's management told her the problem was taken care of, despite the sweltering heat. Calls to building management by NBC4 were not returned Sunday. According to signs posted throughout the building the office is open only Monday to Friday.
"When we go down and ask when the air conditioning will come on they say, 'Yeah, it's taken care of,' but its not taken care of," she said. "We sit in the heat and nobody cares about it."
