Verona couple returns home to no heat
Gas company estimates delivery to be made in 7 days
VERONA, Wis. — Twenty-seven degrees might not sound too bad compared to Monday’s weather, but imagine if that was the temperature inside your home, which is the case for one area couple.
On one of the coldest days in history, Brenda and Chris Schillinger are trying their best to stay warm.
“I didn’t get any sleep last night,” Chris Schillinger said.
The couple is relying on an electric heater and what they call a salamander to keep their Verona home warm after they returned home from a trip Sunday night to find nothing was how they left it.
“She noticed the plants were all dead in the house, and came out and yelled at me that the house was at 27 degrees,” Schillinger said.
They discovered their propane tank was at 5 percent, a big drop from 45-50 percent when they left.
“They say to call anywhere between 20 to 30 percent,” Schillinger said.
Four calls to Ferrell Gas and the Schillingers now have to wait up to seven days to get their tank looked at. Schillinger said they were told no emergency deliveries will be made.
“It was too cold to do that and that for the safety of their employees they didn’t want to do that this year, which kind of left us out in the cold, literally,” Schillinger said.
On top of no heat, a water pipe burst and is leaking.
“I can’t get the plumber out to fix it until I make sure the house is warm enough so it doesn’t freeze again,” Schillinger said.
A spokesperson with Ferrell Gas said employees are working hard to serve customers during the busy winter heating season, and they’ll react quickly when informed a tank is low. Customers need to schedule a delivery when their tank reaches 30 percent, which gives Ferrell plenty of time to schedule the delivery.
The Schillingers said while they wait to get their propane tank serviced they will head to a gas station to use the bathroom and to a friend’s house in Mount Horeb to take a shower.
