Without electricity in sweltering heat, a dozen Fredericton-area seniors play 'waiting game'
Residents of Airport Inn struggle to stay cool in 2nd week without power

A breeze outside the Airport Inn on the outskirts of Fredericton carries the smell of urine from nearby portable toilets — but it's a relief from high heat for the motel's residents, who have been without power for 10 days.
The province's Department of Public Safety found "significant safety concerns" at the Lincoln, N.B., building, and shut the power off last Friday.
Owner Yingchun Su notified tenants the next day that they would have to find other accommodations.
But Mae Wyile, a tenant of 17 years, and about a dozen others have stayed at the building since then.

Many are seniors on fixed incomes, and cannot easily find a comparable rent in the area — rent at the Airport Inn starts at $530 a month.
At 71, Wyile says she's never been through anything like this before.
"You don't know what you lose until you lose it all, right?" she said on Tuesday.
"It would be nice to have a shower ... maybe have power instead of camp lights."
'Nothing really has been done'
On Monday, the province said in a statement that the Department of Social Development "is providing temporary hotel accommodations for some residents in response to the extreme weather forecasted this week."
But on Tuesday, Wyile and other residents said they were not aware of that offer.
"Right now, we're still in a waiting game. We haven't heard too much of anything," Wyile said, sitting on her porch in the shade.
"We've been here since the 13th, and nothing really has been done yet. I mean, they're talking, everybody's talking, but nothing has come about yet."
CBC News requested the total number of residents who were moved into a hotel room on Tuesday with provincial support. But the province declined to provide that information "because the situation is still evolving," said spokesperson René Doucette.

Two support workers from the Canadian Red Cross were on site Tuesday to check in with residents. Doucette said this was a wellness check requested by the province.
However, Wyile says she feels stranded, and residents are close to their breaking point.
"We're all getting stressed. We're trying to keep it together, but it's going to break down soon," she said.
Another resident, Paul Buchanan, said the people remaining in the building are struggling with the extreme heat, but also the uncertainty.
"You're always worried," he said. "You're wondering if you're going to have a place to live next month."
Repair loan declined
In an email, Housing Minister David Hickey said New Brunswick Housing offered help to repair the building, but that Su declined the offer.
Su said the province proposed a 12-year forgivable loan from N.B. Housing — but she believes she will be retired before that period is over.
"At my age, I don't think I can work for another 12 years to pay back the loan. Also, I am wary of the challenge I'm going to face if I repair the building," she said in an interview.
"Now that everything [has been] shut off for over one week, there's going to be more problems."
Despite that, Su said she hasn't decided whether to repair, sell or demolish the 60-year-old building.
Fredericton-Lincoln MLA David Coon says the situation exposes a significant gap.
"When a fire inspector or an electrical inspector or a plumbing inspector ends up shutting down the necessities of life in a building, then immediately they should be required to communicate that to [N.B.] Housing," Coon said.
"To let them know that people are now living in an emergency situation ... that needs to happen, and that needs to become the routine practice now."