PITTSBURGH —
Multiple homes in Pittsburgh’s Garfield neighborhood have been left without power since Tuesday, residents say.
On Sunday, Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 reporter Jim Madalinsky witnessed wires from a utility pole sitting on the ground near the sidewalk in Garfield Commons.
Resident Antoinette Coto says the power lines have been sitting there like this since Tuesday evening.
Four homes in Garfield Commons are still without power more than five days later –without any answers as to when power will be restored.
“To leave us basically stranded and abandoned is heartbreaking,” Coto said.
Coto says she’s not sure exactly what happened, but she noticed the utility pole was snapped Tuesday before any of the storms rolled through later in the week. She says a crew from Duquesne Light was out that day and replaced the pole but never got the electricity turned back on.
“All of our food in the refrigerator and freezer have to be discarded. Some people, one of my neighbors said they were staying at a hotel. People have been visiting friends and family,” said Coto.
Duquesne Light told Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 the loss of power is due to a wiring issue under the control of the property owners.
Duquesne Light’s full statement below:
“When we received the original inquiry, we immediately sent a troubleshooter to investigate at 242 Fern St, the address of Garfield Commons. What we’ve since learned is the outage you mentioned is due to a repair that has been on hold for wiring approval by the building owner.
The equipment in question is owned by the property and not DLC — once the wiring is complete and approved, we can finish the restoration. We’ve been in contact with the property’s maintenance department today, have provided our direct contact information, and assured them we’re available 24/7 to complete this work once approved.
We urge the residents of this building to contact their Property Owner/Manager about this issue. Again, we stress, the equipment in question is owned by the property owner, and we cannot restore power until their work is complete and we have approval.”
Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 has reached out to the property owners with no response.
Source: Garfield homes left without power since Tuesday
