MILWAUKEE — Residents at Becher Court in Southern Milwaukee County say they have been without heat for several nights during the current extreme cold weather, leaving many to resort to dangerous heating methods just to stay warm.
Rebecca Davis, who has lived at Becher Court for the last four years, says the heating problems have persisted for multiple nights.
"We've been going through this for the last two or three nights," Davis said. "No heat, don't even sound like it."
Davis has become a trusted voice among her neighbors, many of whom are elderly or live with disabilities. She conducted her own investigation throughout the building and found the problem affects multiple floors.
"It is freezing on every floor of this building," Davis said.
The lack of heat has forced residents to take potentially dangerous measures to stay warm. Many are using their ovens or space heaters, which are not allowed in the building.
She said for times like this, they have to break some rules.
"If we don't do this... We will freeze up in here. It's either this or stay cold," Davis said.
Watch here: Residents at Becher Court in Milwaukee are speaking out after going nights without heat amid frigidly cold temperatures.
Davis says she spent all day Friday trying to get maintenance help sent to the building and stayed up all night worried about not only keeping the oven on, but worried about her neighbors.
"I called the office," Davis said.
She added that they answered but nobody came to fix the problem.
"Next thing you know, night hit us again with all the cold air."
During a tour of the building, Davis showed TMJ4's Makaylah Chavez that at least 15 units had items placed under their doors to try to block cold air. The temperature difference was noticeable between floors.
Davis even contacted the fire department to alert them about the situation and explain to them that residents, including herself, are being forced to use prohibited heating methods to stay warm.
"I don't want to get burnt up in here but it seems like it's going to take something tragic to get them to do something," Davis said.
The situation is particularly concerning given that many residents are vulnerable populations, according to Davis.
"I cannot stand for the residents to be like that because they didn't ask for it," Davis said.
TMJ4 left a voicemail and sent an email to Becher Court Housing on Saturday morning.
The housing program responded that the boilers are now working properly and maintenance will be rechecking them on Saturday afternoon.
Residents with heat-related concerns should call (414) 286-5100.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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