AURORA, Colo. — Residents at an Aurora apartment complex say they're struggling to keep cool amid soaring temperatures because their air conditioning units keep failing.
For Cyrus Oscars, having ice cubes on hand and freezing towels to keep cool has become a daily chore. He lives at the Advenir at Del Arte apartments in Aurora with his aunt, cousin and daughter. About a week ago, his air conditioning unit stopped working.
"The very first time it happened, the smell was crucial," Oscars said, describing the moment his AC unit failed. "As soon as it went out, you could smell it right away through the vents. It smelled like something was burning."
Oscars said it has been hard dealing with the heat, especially with his baby daughter.
"It's just very frustrating when you're trying whatever you can to keep the house cool, and then it's still just hot," he said. "My daughter is dripping sweat every time she wakes up."
Across from the building Oscars lives in, a balcony caught on fire Sunday morning after an air conditioning unit sparked into flames.
In that home were Donovan Thompson and his family. He said he just moved into the apartment two months ago and has had nothing but problems since.
"We're paying to live here, and we're working our butt off to pay rent for our kids, and we can't get even get effort even put toward something that could actually put somebody out," Thompson said.
Thompson said the apartment complex knew of the issues with their unit after putting in several maintenance requests. He believes it's one of the reasons why his apartment caught fire in the first place.
"They knew that our thermostat doesn't shut off -- the AC or heat," Thompson said. "So it just runs."
The Thompson's are now being helped by Red Cross volunteers to find accommodations.
Denver 7 reached out to the company that runs the apartment complex, and after informing them of all of the resident's complaints, they chose not to comment.