With No Propane to Heat Her Home, Woman Dies in North Dakota

February 5,2014

 

 

 

 

AP Photo/Seth Perlman

Propane is delivered Jan. 27 to the Gardner Township Hall in Bradforton, Ill., as central Illlinois experienced another blast of cold air. That day, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn declared a propane supply emergency in Illinois, thanks to wet fall weather and recent cold spells that caused distribution problems across the state.

BISMARCK, N.D. — Authorities on a North Dakota reservation are investigating whether a woman found dead in a mobile home with an empty propane tank died from the cold.
Debbie Dogskin's body was discovered Tuesday morning at her Fort Yates home.
Sioux County Sheriff Frank Landeis says the temperature on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation dropped to 1 degree below zero overnight.
(MORE: Propane Shortage Takes Toll on Rural America)
Landeis says he believes Dogskin "just froze to death." Autopsy results are expected by Friday.
People have been struggling to stay warm as propane prices more than doubled due to a national shortage.
Tribal officials have declared a state of emergency because about 5,000 homes on the reservation are heated by propane. Tribal Chairman Dave Archambault II says many residents are on fixed incomes and can't afford the more expensive fuel.
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People walk through rain past icicles Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2014, in Trenton, N.J. Temperatures around most of New Jersey are rising and the freezing rain that snarled much of the morning rush is ending. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)