Residents upset weeks after fire at Brookline apartment building

PITTSBURGH — Weeks after a fire at a Brookline apartment building, residents say they feel forgotten. However, the Pittsburgh Housing Authority says they have moved all tenants to hotels and are paying for their meals.

“They’ve treated us like garbage. We don’t mean anything to them. The only thing that matters to them is their building,” said resident Marilyn Sullivan.

Sullivan and her neighbor Antoinette Zanders say an apartment inside their building on Brookline Boulevard caught fire on June 10. They told Channel 11 it’s owned and maintained by the Pittsburgh Housing Authority.

“They wasn’t (anyone) helping anyone down the steps. Everybody is disabled or elderly. We had to walk down the steps by ourselves,” said Zanders.

“I’m beyond devasted. There’s 30 apartments that have been displaced because of this fire. We can’t get attention from the Housing Authority,” said Sullivan.

Residents say they were sent to hotels in the city, but they claim no one will tell them how long they’ll be away from

home. They also claim no one is helping them remove their items from the building.

“This has happened to us. We live here. You all go home to your nice little houses. We have to sit in this hotel.”

Michelle Sandidge with the Pittsburgh Housing Authority says they moved all the residents to two hotels in the city on June 10.

Sandidge tells us the Red Cross gave everyone vouchers.

Officials with the Housing Authority say they also have staff at the building three days a week to assist tenants in removing their items.

We’re told inspectors have to test for mold and mildew, and the elevator has to be fixed before they can allow tenants back in the building.

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