Desperation for electricity leads to fire deaths in Oakland

[Liberal_in_LA]

Oakland fire tragedy: 'My mama's burning'

Oakland -- Fire on a frigid night tore through an East Oakland apartment, killing a mother, her daughter and a man who lived in an upstairs unit that had its power shut off earlier this month.

Desperate for electricity, the mother and her two children had dangled a heavy-duty outdoor extension cord over their second-story balcony and plugged it into their downstairs neighbor's outlet. That jury-rigged electrical system - used to power lamps, appliances and strings of Christmas lights - sparked just before 2 a.m. Thursday and ignited a blaze in the apartment at 82nd Avenue and Birch Street that shot flames out of the second-story windows.

Friends identified the dead woman as Ruth Muñoz, a 27-year-old immigrant from El Salvador. They said she was a housekeeper who had lost her job six months ago and was struggling to make ends meet for herself and her children, ages 7 and 3. Muñoz's husband, friends said, is behind bars, awaiting deportation to El Salvador.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/12/30/BAOO1H1QKK.DTL#ixzz19j0jSx4Q

[enough]

1. Oh Happy New Year America. (nt)

[NutmegYankee]

2. I didn't realize an electric company could cut off power in the winter.

They cannot do so here by law.

[butterfly77]

4. Many in michigan..

are living without heat,electricity and water. Illegal hook ups all over the place.

[NutmegYankee]

5. That is horrible.

[kestrel91316]

3. It doesn't really freeze here, so they sure as hell will. But there is plenty of help

available with power bills if you are poor (at least here in Los Angeles - I assume Oakland is the same - maybe she was an illegal immigrant also and feared applying for assistance).