BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Residents of the Country Inn Motel in Southeast Bakersfield are left with questions and feeling overlooked after a fire in one of the units Thursday morning caused the county to turn off gas and electricity to the entire property and deem the units unsafe for occupancy.
As temperatures rise into the triple-digits, Latasha Cain and Roxanne Miranda, residents at the motel, don't know what they're going to do.
"So here we are with no electricity, we have no help or resources," said Cain. "We just want to know what to do."
"My daughter just got surgery," said Miranda. "There's a baby out here. There's children in the facility, and there's nowhere to go."
After the fire and the shutoffs, PG&E was unable to get the power back on, according to Al Rojas with Bakersfield City Code Compliance.
"Our officers went to the site, they confirmed that there was no electricity on site, which is an immediate cause for posting a structure unsafe for occupancy," said Rojas.
Rojas also says that Kern County Environmental Health officers offered help to the people impacted by the shutoffs.
"Once our officers posted the different units, to offer placement and to make assessment for placement," said Rojas.
However, residents like Cain say they were never offered or evaluated for placement.
23ABC reached out to the American Red Cross about finding help for those living at the motel. They responded with a statement saying that they coordinated with the fire department, and volunteers provided referrals to community resources, but residents said they weren't given any resources by the Red Cross.
"We have people's rent that have been paid up until now into next month," said Cain. "Us being paying tenants, he should be responsible for placing us somewhere."
The property owner, Muhammed Parvez, says he just took ownership of the property this week. He claims he was told by the previous owner that there wouldn't be any residents staying there and that he doesn't feel responsible for finding them accommodations. Parvez says he offered to pay back the advanced rent to the residents, an offer some of them, like resident Debra Sullivan, refused because they didn't know where to go.
"I had paid in advance for the month, and it should be good for the first, where I was going to pay rent again, because this is the only place I can afford in town," said Sullivan. "I am not able to rent because they want you to have 2 or 3 times the income, so I have to end up living in the hotel instead."
As the heatwave gears up for the highest temperatures, the people impacted by the fire and power shutoff at the motel say they still need assistance, with several noting how without the refrigerators working, their food is spoiling.
"We shouldn't have to have our kids in 100-degree heat in a house with no electricity," said Cain. "We need help. Like, emergency help."
