Pamela Zuzak, 70, reflects on her experiences of being stranded in the dark during the power blackouts at the Villas at Hamilton housing complex for low income seniors Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2019, in Novato, Calif. Pacific Gas & Electric officials said they understood the hardships caused by the blackouts but insisted they were necessary. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
The Associated Press
NOVATO, Calif. (AP) - Senior residents of a San Francisco Bay Area housing complex say they were abandoned by property management during a pre-emptive two-day power outage aimed at warding off wildfires.
Residents of the Villas at Hamilton in Novato, which is north of San Francisco, say they encountered pitch-black stairwells and hallways, and elevators that shut down.
One woman in her 80s tripped over another resident when climbing up a dark, steep stairwell. Others got turned around, even in their own apartments, and cried out for help.
VPM Management of Irvine, California, landlord Affordable Housing Access of Newport Beach, California and the on-site manager did not respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press
Pacific Gas & Electric Co. shut off power to more than 2 million people over the weekend.
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Associated Press writer Stefanie Dazio in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
Helen Wagar, who is in her 80s, walks over the spot in a stairway where she fell over another woman who was laying in the dark during the recent power blackouts at the Villas at Hamilton housing complex for low income seniors Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2019, in Novato, Calif. Pacific Gas & Electric officials said they understood the hardships caused by the blackouts but insisted they were necessary. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
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Helen Wagar, who is in her 80s, displays her swollen knee from a fall in a dark stairway during the power blackouts as her dog Pixie looks on at the Villas at Hamilton housing complex for low income seniors Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2019, in Novato, Calif. Wagar fell after stumbling over another woman who had fallen in the stairway. Pacific Gas & Electric officials said they understood the hardships caused by the blackouts but insisted they were necessary. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
The Associated Press
From left, Sharon Wagner-Higgins, Brian Cherry and Theresa Metzger talk about their experiences of being stranded in the dark during the power blackouts at the Villas at Hamilton housing complex for low income seniors Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2019, in Novato, Calif. Pacific Gas & Electric officials said they understood the hardships caused by the blackouts but insisted they were necessary. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
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A woman makes her way out of the Villas at Hamilton housing complex Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2019, in Novato, Calif., where many low income seniors were stranded in the dark during the power blackouts. Pacific Gas & Electric officials said they understood the hardships caused by the blackouts but insisted they were necessary. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
The Associated Press
Patty Zahnow, 77, makes her way down a ramp at the Villas at Hamilton housing complex for low income seniors Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2019, in Novato, Calif. Zahnow was one of many seniors at the complex that was stuck in the dark during the recent power blackouts. Pacific Gas & Electric officials said they understood the hardships caused by the blackouts but insisted they were necessary. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
The Associated Press