RI, MA EHS Pest Control Blog

Employees of the ‘Wall Street Journal’ were informed on Jan. 11th that bed bugs had taken residence in the The Journal's offices inside the News Corp. building in Midtown.

According to an article on www.capitalnewyork.com, WSJ Deputy Managing Editor informed employees that “…on Friday the facilities department received a report of a bed bug sighting in the video area of the 6th floor."

An inspection using a bed bug detecting dog found a bed bug infestation "in part of the video area and in part of the main 6th floor conference room," the Capital reported. These areas were treated by a pest management professional.

During the past few years, other venerable New York institutions including Time Warner, Penguin, Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center have also been infested.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA

Local Man Burns Mattress, Claims Bed Bug Infestation

Health inspectors found no evidence of bed bugs in rooms at the Franklin Motel even after an alleged infestation caused a local man to burn a mattress.

The man, Fred Fehrmann, 48, of Marshalltown, burned the mattress after a coworker called him to the motel for assistance, and he and his wife discovered the mattress was rife with bed bugs.

Tuesday's incident marks the third accusation of bed bugs at the motel, 1108 Iowa Ave. W., since May 31, according to Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals. Inspectors found no evidence of bed bugs in any of the three inspections.

Still, Laura Fehrmann, Fred's wife, tells a different story.

When she and her husband went over to aid the coworker, she said, she couldn't believe how bad the parasitic infestation was.

"I was so dumbfounded. I was at a loss for words," she said.

Even after her husband got home from burning the mattress, she made him take his clothes off outside their home and leave them in a bucket of oil, she said.

David Werning, a spokesperson for the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals, said his department treats every complaint as if it were legitimate and requires the owner to show proof that he or she has called in an exterminator, something Franklin Motel owner, James Hostetter, had not done for the two previous complaints.

After the Thursday inspection, Inspections and Appeals required the owner to provide monthly invoices from a pest control agency showing that he is taking the appropriate measures.

"We aren't taking anyone's word for it," Werning said.

Although the inspector found no evidence of bed bugs, Werning acknowledged that the insects are nocturnal and hard to spot during the day.

Fehrmann said she put her husband up to burning the mattress because she was concerned for the welfare of the residents' 2-year-old child.

"The manager didn't care at all," she said. "He said 'you guys brought them in and you need to take care of them.'"

Franklin Motel's manager declined to comment for this story.

An incident report at the Marshalltown Police Department confirms Fehrmann's husband, Fred, started the fire, which, according to the report, could land him a reckless use of fire charge, a simple misdemeanor.

"It's not legal to burn a mattress," said Fire Marshal Deb Lundgren.

The fire was relatively small, Lundgren said, and only took firefighters a few minutes to extinguish.

As of Friday morning, MPD reports do not indicate police have arrested Fred Fehrmann.

Fehrmann said she and her husband will deal with any consequences. In fact, she was the one who called the police and fire departments. Whatever the fallout it will be a far shot better than letting the family sleep on the floor, which is what she said they had been doing for some time.

"People need to know how bad the situation is," Fehrmann said of the numerous complaints about bed bugs at the motel.

The mattress belonged to the owner of the motel, who is in the process of evicting the couple, Werning said.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA

When it comes to battling bedbugs in your home, business, condo, school, hospital, apartment complex, etc. there is ONLY one choice and that is EHS!

Environmental Health Services, Inc. is widely known as an industry leader at bedbug elimination.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Firefighters: Bedbug “Do It Yourself” Spray Causes Fire

A fire that engulfed an apartment in Colerain on Friday night was partially caused by the use of a common bedbug deterrent, fire officials said.

Colerain Township firefighters said they received a call at about 9:30 p.m. reporting a fire on a second floor apartment in the 3500 block of West Galbraith Road.

Firefighters said they brought the fire under control at about 9:50 p.m. with the help of fire crews from Springfield Township and Green Township fire departments.

Authorities said a family of six, including four children, was displaced and receiving assistance from the Red Cross.

Fire officials said the residents of the apartment were using isopropyl alcohol in a spray bottle to kill bedbugs. Officials said the home-remedy is common, but droplets formed by spraying the chemical dramatically increases the evaporation rate of the alcohol.

The vapor released is extremely flammable and was ignited by a cigarette, firefighters said.

No injuries were reported, firefighters said. The fire caused an estimated $30,000 in damage to the building and its contents.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Bed Bug Infestation Closes Salvation Army Shelter

A bed bug infestation has forced a Salvation Army shelter in Orlando to temporarily close. The Salvation Army announced Thursday that the men's shelter could be closed for up to a week.

The Orlando Sentinel reports officials are scrambling to find accommodations for up to 75 homeless men - just as the temperatures are expected to dip into the 30s. Another 50 men who are enrolled in the agency's long-term transitional program will be housed in a gym on the shelter's property.

Officials say it will cost about $15,000 to tent the building for treatment of bed bugs.

Spokeswoman Vicki Hastings says the Salvation Army hopes the public will help cover the costs.

Bed bugs bites can lead to severe itching and skin infections.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Cockroaches, Bed Bugs, Mold Spark $10M Lawsuit

A civil lawsuit alleging long-term substandard living conditions against the owner of the Cordova Estates apartments in Rancho Cordova is seeking $10 million in damages for 97 tenants.

"It's horrific. It's disgusting. I can't describe it. I was without heat for three years," said tenant Jessica Munoz, the named plaintiff in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit, filed this month, alleges that the property owner, Juvenal Campos, did not fulfill his duty to maintain habitable apartments for tenants paying $525 to $725 per month in rent.

A prepared statement sent by "the owners" of the property stated that they are trying to address issues in those apartments.

"We are disappointed by the filing of this lawsuit," read the statement which was signed "the owners".

Meanwhile, Rancho Cordova code inspectors stress Campos is facing a string of code violations based on a recent walk-through of the apartment complex.

"He is facing roughly 150 violations ... He could face fines in the hundreds of thousands of dollars if we continue to come out and things not be done," said Kerri Simpson, Rancho Cordova Code Enforcement officer.

City officials said they are working the property owner to fix the owner. However, Simpson said previous agreements to fix problems in the past failed.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

A Hairy Body Can Mean the Bed Bugs Won't Bite (Because they Can't Get to the Skin)

Finding hairs in your food can be disgusting, and it seems that blood-sucking insects feel just the same.

Scientists have discovered that hairy people are better protected from parasites, as the hair makes it harder for the bugs to reach skin.

Bed bugs and other parasites such as mosquitoes, midges.

But as the insects search for somewhere to dive in, the nerves in hairs also increase the chances of them being felt on the skin and swatted away.

Researchers studied 29 brave volunteers who had one arm shaved before hungry bed bugs were placed on their skin

The results of the experiment showed that people with more hair - both longer hairs and fine, almost invisible 'vellus' hairs - were more protected.

Hair covering the arms extended each insect’s search for an ideal feeding ground, and increased the likelihood of it being detected.

Because of this, bed bugs and other parasites including mosquitoes, midges, ticks and leeches prefer relatively hairless areas such as the wrists and ankles, the scientists claim.

Study leader Professor Michael Siva-Jothy, from the University of Sheffield’s Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, said: 'Our findings show that more body hairs mean better detection of parasites.

'The hairs have nerves attached to them and provide us with the ability to detect displacement. By forming a barrier and providing detection, these hairs prolong search time and make detection more likely because the bug has to spend more time clambering over them.

'The results have implications for understanding why we look the way we do, what selective forces might have driven us to look the way we do, and may even provide insight for better understanding of how to reduce biting insects’ impact on humans.'

The findings may explain why humans have retained a body-covering of fine hair.

'Our proposal is that we retain the fine covering because it aids detection and if we lost all hair, even the relatively invisible fine hair, our detection ability goes right down,' said Prof Siva-Jothy.

The research is published today in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters. Prof Siva-Jothy said it would be wrong to assume women will always be bitten more often than hairier men.

He pointed out: 'Men have more body hair than women which is caused by the action of testosterone at puberty. This does not necessarily mean that women are more likely to be bitten.

'Blood-sucking insects are likely to have been selected to prefer to bite hosts in relatively hairless areas.”

The Sheffield scientists are investigating the biology, reproduction and immunity of blood-sucking insects.

Their aim is to find more effective ways of controlling parasitic insects and the diseases they spread.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

I though for a second I had stumbled onto a freak of science. One that would set the entomological world on its ear!!! A FLYING BEDBUG!!!

I was doing a bedbug inspection at a housing authority when something caught my eye. It was a dead bedbug caught on a strand of spider web. For a second it had the appearance of flying. Needless to say bedbugs can’t fly, nor jump for that matter. It was worth grabbing a video of it though!