Amid a pandemic, in the waning days of a Dumpster fire of 2020, and four days before Christmas, hundreds of residents of Brookside Manor in Hatfield Township remained without gas heat and hot water, ever since a Saturday afternoon underground electrical transformer fire knocked out gas service to the Morgan Properties-owned community.
It was expected that gas service would be restored by Tuesday morning.
By Monday night, many residents felt all they were getting from King of Prussia-based Morgan Properties in its response to the emergency is “Bah Humbug!”
Property management provided displaced residents with space heaters, but residents reported on the private, 6,100-member-strong Citizens for the Revitalization of Lansdale group on Facebook that the heaters kept blowing fuses and overloading circuits and were insufficient to heat a one-bedroom apartment, let alone a two-bedroom apartment or townhome. Management also reportedly told residents to leave faucets on a drip to prevent freezing of water pipes.
A call to Morgan Properties was not returned by press time.
“They haven’t offered us anything more than space heaters,” wrote resident Jaclyn Scarborough in the Facebook group. Scarborough posted to the group about the incident, seeking legal advice and help. “All last night, residents have blown fuses and maintenance has had to fix the circuits because wires are overloaded. I don’t understand how it’s not a fire hazard. I’m scared one house will start and we will lose everything in a fast moving fire.”
According to a report from CBS3 Philly Eyewitness News, Brookside Manor management also provided unsecured community showering facilities in two open apartments, assuring residents that COVID-19 practices were in place. Scarborough told CBS3 that residents had to wait in the living room as someone else was showering.
After the CBS3 report was broadcast, Brookside Manor closed the emergency shower amenities, per CBS3.
Furthermore, according to residents and CBS3, the American Red Cross was notified by Brookside Manor management of the emergency, but the American Red Cross was told its services were not needed.
The entire complex, which is bordered by Cowpath Road, Broad Street and Line Street, is not without gas heat and hot water, however. Some residences had heat restored Saturday night.
“Last I heard, there were roughly 150 units without gas,” said Hatfield Township Manager Aaron Bibro on Monday afternoon. “Crews were out all day and I have not been given an updated timeframe on completion.”
Bibro said PECO and the Pennsylvania Utilities Commission were on site overseeing and inspecting their respective portions of the project.
“The township doesn’t have direct involvement since it’s a gas line,” Bibro said.
On Saturday, Colmar Volunteer Fire Company was dispatched at 3:11 p.m. for a report of fire coming from the ground in front of Building No. 9 on Brookside Drive, near Meadow Lane and Ryan Path within the apartment and townhome complex, according to Montgomery County dispatch records. Four buildings on Brookside Drive were evacuated, and PECO responded to the scene, per the report. Mont Clare Fire Co. and fire police from Fire Department of Montgomery Township and Fairmount Fire Co in Lansdale assisted at the scene.
CBS3 reported Monday night that PECO confirmed that an underground fire knocked out gas to the units on Saturday afternoon, and were waiting on Brookside Manor maintenance to repair gas line damage before it can restore gas service. However, the Brookside Manor property manager told CBS3 it was waiting on PECO.
No one could get the story straight.
“Nobody wants to take responsibility for this,” resident Danielle Gardner told CBS3. “I pay my rent every month. I held up my end of the bargain. This has to be illegal. This can’t be right to do this to people.”
CBS3 and residents on Facebook reported that Brookside Manor offered discount rates to residents to stay in local hotels. Yet, renters were unsure if those hotel costs would be covered by renter’s insurance.
According to Scarborough, the renter’s insurance claim is feasible only if the township manager declares an emergency and the fire marshal considers the dwellings to be uninhabitable.
Resident Christopher Tiang commented on the Facebook thread that his insurance agency, State Farm, would not cover hotel expenses because the fire did not damage the actual apartment itself, rendering it uninhabitable.
Some Facebook readers proffered residents can legally place rent money into an escrow account until the problem is resolved.
Morgan Properties, headquartered in King of Prussia, also owns, among others, Forge Gate Apartments on Snyder Road, and Main Street Apartments on Welsh Road in Towamencin Township; Montgomery Manor Apartments and Townhomes on Elroy Road in Hatfield Township; and Montgomery Woods Apartment Homes at Routes 113 and 63 in Harleysville, Lower Salford Township.
Residents at Brookside Manor rent one- to three-bedroom apartments and townhomes, starting at $1,265 a month, according to its website.
Former residents shared to various local Facebook groups their own horror stories of alleged poor management by Morgan Properties, including a similar incident in 2018 where it took more than a week to restore heat and hot water. Another resident alleged management over a decade ago refused to install new HVAC units after she complained her townhome got up to 56 degrees on emergency heat. A third resident alleged maintenance workers at Place One in Plymouth Meeting told them they were only allowed to “band-aid things.”
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