Helen Morris, of Oakland, awoke to a chilly house Nov. 14, checked the radiators and found all but one cold to the touch.

She opened the door to the basement, detected a "slight smell of gas" and called Dominion Peoples. She said a gas company man came out, went to the basement, came back up, told her he had turned off the water, handed her a red tag, advised her to call a plumber and left.

"He didn't explain anything," she said. "I didn't connect water with the furnace."

She did the next day when she awoke to a cold house.

"I called my son, Irving, and told him I had no heat," she said. "He came right over. He said the furnace pilot light was out."

It turned out that the expansion tank, which holds excess water in the hot-water heating system, had split open and drenched the controls for the furnace.

Mrs. Morris, who is celebrating her 77th birthday today, waited until Nov. 17, a Monday, to call Dominion because she thought no one would be in the office over the weekend. I told her the company answers the phone around the clock.

She said the company told her to call the LIHEAP program. The initials stand for Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program. It has a toll-free number -- 1-800-851-3838 -- and also answers around the clock.

Mrs. Morris, who is on a fixed income, called the number and spoke to an employee of Allegheny County's Department of Human Services. She said the woman who answered the phone said county residents, who can apply for LIHEAP grants of up to $800, were arriving as early as 5 a.m. at the department's office at 1 Smithfield St., Downtown, to file applications.

"I couldn't believe it," said Mrs. Morris, who doesn't drive and requires a wheelchair to get around when she leaves the house. "I told them I was handicapped. I asked to speak to a supervisor."

She said she was transferred to a "young man" who said he would send her an application. The application is key. The sooner an applicant receives one, completes it and returns it, the sooner a grant or other assistance can be acted on.

Applicants who cannot get to the department's main office or branch offices in Braddock, McKeesport and the Natrona Heights section of Harrison, are asked to send a family member to pick up an application and return it.

But Mrs. Morris, who has five children, said she didn't want to "bother" them "because they're busy and have things to do."

Although an application can be brought to homebound residents, the department believed a member of Mrs. Morris' family should do that for her.

Meanwhile, the temperatures continued to drop -- from a high and low of 66 and 46 degrees Nov. 14 to 37/28 degrees Nov. 17, when she first called the LIHEAP program. The Hill House brought her a small electric heater last Wednesday. It was much appreciated, especially when the high and low temperatures were below freezing: 30/20.

Frustrated with what she considered to be "no help" from the county and still waiting for the LIHEAP application to arrive, Mrs. Morris called me.

I called Sally Petrilli, who administers the LIHEAP Crisis program for the county. She said someone would take an application to Mrs. Morris. That occurred on Friday -- the mailed application arrived on Saturday -- and Mrs. Morris thought her furnace would be repaired Friday or Saturday.

It wasn't.

When I called her Sunday, Mrs. Morris said her son had brought her electric heaters.

"It's much warmer, especially in my bathroom," she said.

She said no one had called about her furnace. I told her I'd be right over.

"Bundle up," she said.

I did -- long underwear, knee-high ski socks, flannel shirt and jeans, vest, ski jacket and hat. The interview in her dining room lasted an hour. It was cold. Her son had hung clear plastic sheeting over the entrance leading to the kitchen and held it in place with gray duct tape. The high on Sunday was 38 degrees; the overnight temperature dropped to 13 degrees.

Mrs. Morris, bent over from an unsuccessful back operation and facing surgery next month on one of her aching knees, said the consistently cold temperatures inside the house for more than a week had raised havoc with her arthritis.

I called Mrs. Petrilli and gave her a status report. She said Action Housing was dispatching a contractor, Phillips Plumbing and Air-Conditioning, of the South Side, to repair the furnace. It turned out the furnace needed more than a repair.

"We're going to replace the furnace," said company manager Kevin Phillips. "We called Action Housing, explained the problem and received authorization to replace it."

He said the furnace would be installed yesterday.

And it was.

"Thank you so much," Mrs. Morris said when she called me yesterday. "This wouldn't have happened without your help."

The credit goes to Mrs. Petrilli, Action Housing and Phillips Heating and Air-Conditioning. If county residents follow the procedure required by the program, Mrs. Petrilli said, their applications will be processed promptly.

Although the LIHEAP branch offices in Braddock and McKeesport are closed today, the main office Downtown is open weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. It has, however, stayed open as late as 7 p.m. to complete the application of every person who shows up.

As of Monday, it has processed more than 3,648 applications and handled 166 furnace repairs.