RICHMOND, Va. -- Residents living in 20 apartments at Richmond's Fairfield Court housing community lost heat Thursday evening when a boiler broke, according to interim head Orlando Artze.
Alternative hotel accommodations were offered to all affected residents, Artze said. One household chose the option.
He added that portable space heaters were provided to all affected households, except for five apartments where residents were not home.
"Temperature readings were taken and they were all above 65 degrees. RRHA staff will follow up with residents on Monday to check in and provide an update on repairs," Artze wrote in an email.
RRHA initially thought internal staff would be able to make temporary repairs to the boiler, however, they were unable to do so, Artze said.
A new boiler has been ordered, and installation is expected to be completed on March 2, according to Artze.
"At this time, the provision of temporary electric space heaters is adequate to meet heating season temperature requirements of 65 degrees," Artze wrote.
The boiler break down comes on the heals of two recent issues regarding heat in other Richmond housing projects.
CBS 6 News reported in January that roughly 50 families in Creighton Court were without heat, and subsequently RRHA opted to replace the heating system in their units.
Also, former RRHA leader T.K. Somanath, said the same thing happened in November in Gilpin Court and affected more than 300 units.
