An elderly Fresno couple is cooling off after spending days without air conditioning during triple-digit temperatures.
Hazel Hayes says her family’s finances left them with few options after their aging AC system stopped working Tuesday.
“Oh! It’s a blessing, plus a miracle. Plus, a wow! I didn’t know those things still happened,” Hayes said after learning a local HVAC company would replace the system for free.
Ethan Hernandez (on the far right on the photo below), a service technician with Costless Plumbing, Heating and Air, was the first to respond to the couple’s service call.
$12K Act of Kindness: Fresno elderly couple gets free AC repair in triple-digit heat. (Photo: FOX26 News Reporter Mayra Franco)
He says the system was too old to repair and replacing it would cost roughly $12,000, something the couple couldn’t afford while living on a fixed income.
According to Ethan, he had learned that Hayes’ husband had recently beat cancer and they had medical bills racking up.
Ethan also noticed Hayes struggling to pay the $95 service fee.
“She was a little struggling, just to collect and put it together,” Hernandez said, explaining that Hayes ultimately used a credit card because she didn’t have enough cash.
Hayes says the family’s finances are already stretched thin.
“We’re right on the edge of falling off the cliff. ‘Cause every money is going to just get some food on the table,” she said.
Hernandez says the experience stayed with him after he left the home. He called his brother, Nathan Hernandez, the company’s operations manager, to see if there was anything they could do.
“This service call kind of pulled on his heartstrings because one thing about Ethan, he’s a very caring individual,” Nathan Hernandez said.
Nathan then took the situation to his father, Angel Hernandez, the company’s CEO.
The answer was simple. Angel gave them the green light to replace the entire system at no cost to the couple.
$12K Act of Kindness: Fresno elderly couple gets free AC repair in triple-digit heat. (Photo: FOX26 News Reporter Mayra Franco)
“Anytime there’s a chance to give back, I’m all for it,” Angel said.
$12K Act of Kindness: Fresno elderly couple gets free AC repair in triple-digit heat. (Photo: FOX26 News Reporter Mayra Franco)
The decision came as temperatures in Fresno reached 105 to 108 degrees. Angel says the couple’s home could reach more than 100 degrees without working air conditioning.
“They’re an elderly couple on fixed income, especially he’s a veteran,” Angel Hernandez said. “Anytime I hear elderly, anytime I hear fixed income, and I hear especially a veteran, somebody that’s given so much to our country, it’s almost an obligation that we got to help.”
Costless Plumbing, Heating and Air has been family-owned and serving the Valley since 2003.
$12K Act of Kindness: Fresno elderly couple gets free AC repair in triple-digit heat. (Photo: FOX26 News Reporter Mayra Franco)
The company says helping the Hayes family is just one of the ways it gives back to the community.