It is quite sad about the fire in the Bronx and the many who died and were injured. Now as reported, this fire was caused by a space heater. The reason for a space heater is because of lack of heat in the dwelling in the winter.
Well, I understand that only too well. You see without heat in the winter puts a person and families are put in the most painful circumstances. Added to that we have senior citizens whose health is in danger under these conditions. I truly can feel their pain.
In the 1970s after I finished in the United States Navy, my girlfriend and I rented an apartment in a Bayside complex that I will not mention by name. During the winter the apartment was extremely cold although we complained a lot to management. We had to commit to extreme measures to stay warm. We ran a space heater and had the stove on while boiling water to stay warm.
We eventually moved, but many people can’t afford to do that. But being cold and getting sick from a cold apartment is not very pleasant. This is what many of our poor residents are going through now. Something must be done or more families will be forced to engage in extreme measures trying to keep warm.
Frederick R. Bedell Jr.
Mineola
