Good Samaritan pays for dozens of Chicago homeless people to stay in hotel

AP logo
Thursday, January 31, 2019
Freezing temperatures creating crazy images
It's so cold in some parts of the country that clothes are freezing and standing on their own.

CHICAGO, Illinois -- A good Samaritan offered to pay for hotel rooms for 70 homeless people in Chicago who were camped out in tents amid the bitter cold that blanketed Chicago.



The offer came after the Chicago Fire Department on Wednesday confiscated nearly 100 propane tanks given to the group to keep them warm as temperatures sank to negative 22 (negative 20 Celsius). The department acted after one of the donated tanks exploded.



RELATED: University of Iowa student found dead on campus; authorities believe weather-related


With wind chills reaching -50 degrees, KCRG reports that authorities believe the death of an 18-year-old college student was weather-related.


Salvation Army spokeswoman Jacqueline Rachev said city officials told the organization about their actions at the camp. The Salvation Army was about to move the people to a warming center when the city called again and informed them of the gesture.



Rachev was not sure of the identity of the good Samaritan and only knew the hotel was on the city's South Side.



RELATED: Polar Vortex 2019: Winter storm freezing everything from clothes to train tracks


It's so cold in some parts of the country that clothes are freezing and standing on their own.
Copyright © 2024 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.