RI, MA EHS Pest Control Blog

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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

Bus Drivers Battling Bed Bugs

City bus drivers' union reports problem of infestation on city buses, while the Detroit Department of Transportation says the problem is not widespread.

The union representing Detroit's bus drivers has asked the City Council to put pressure on the transit agency to help stop the spread of bedbugs on buses.

About 50 Detroit Department of Transportation drivers have reported seeing the bugs on buses, and some have been bitten within the past year, said Henry Gaffney, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 26.

After receiving a letter from Gaffney in May, DDOT chief executive Ron Freeland said Thursday he asked a maintenance crew to investigate and sent a letter to the union later in the month saying any infested bus would be cleaned.

Freeland said the amount of bedbugs the crew has found so far in the cleaning process isn't unusual for a service with an average of 100,000 riders each day.

"I, personally, am not aware of any widespread problem," he said. "Where we do have problems, we are in fact dealing with it."

Any buses reported to have bedbugs will be cleaned and fumigated, Freeland said. If that doesn't kill them, the maintenance crew can put the vehicle in a paint booth and kill the bugs with heat.

That wasn't enough for Gaffney, though. He said DDOT should be taking preventive measures by treating all of the agency's terminals and coaches.

"If this continues to get bad, you can't force anybody to work in those types of conditions," he said. "It's not fair to the citizens either. Somebody's got to care somewhere in this city."

Bedbugs are flat, parasitic insects that feed on blood of people or animals, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They are about a quarter-inch long and spread by latching on to people's clothes or luggage. Once in a home, the bugs hide in beds or other furniture, feed while people are sedentary and reproduce.

Their bites affect people similarly to that of a mosquito, said Erik Foster, medical entomologist for the state Department of Community Health.

"Bedbugs have been found in public transit, school buses, public buses, airplanes," Foster said.

It's unlikely that a bus would have a large infestation of bedbugs, however, because there isn't a great place for them to hide, Foster said.

For the past two months, Rainey Henley, a 17-year DDOT driver, has taken his clothes off immediately when he returns home from his shift. He then throws them in a clothes dryer with hopes the heat will kill any bed bugs.

Henley said he was bitten about two months ago and has seen at least three other bedbugs on different buses.

"It's terrifying, man," Henley said. "I bring 91-percent alcohol and spray my seat and around my driver area before I start."

Gaffney's letter — dated June 19 — was on the agenda Monday for the City Council's Public Health and Safety Committee, but Council President Pro-Tem Gary Brown, chairman of that committee, said Wednesday he hadn't heard anything about the issue.

"There are no bedbugs on DDOT buses," Brown said. "They can't live on a bus. People can bring them on, but they can't live on plastic chairs."

DDOT's customer service line hasn't received any calls within the past year from customers reporting bedbug sightings, Freeland said. He said he planned to have the operations' staff talk to drivers for more details, but he believes cleaning all buses and facilities is unnecessary.

"I think most transit agencies, not just DDOT, would tell you (they) tackle these problems as they occur," he said. "I think if we had a major problem we would know it."

Bedbugs started turning up in Michigan in 2006, and they began spreading rapidly at the start of 2008. The state Department of Community Health receives 15 to 20 calls a week reporting bedbugs, with most coming from southeast Michigan and many from Detroit, Foster said.

The department received funds to provide Detroiters with information about bedbugs, and will begin its outreach in the next couple of months, Foster said.

"When you have a high density of people and you have a high density of people living in multiunit housing, their ability to spread is great," he said, adding "the chance of them spreading is high unless … the infestations are being treated."

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

Stabbing Follows Spraying for Bedbugs and Attack with 2 Vacuums and a Stool

A Lafayette man stabbed his roommate Saturday evening after an argument escalated into a physical fight while they were spraying for bedbugs, court documents allege.

Jeffrey Hale Ringen, 50, was charged Monday in Tippecanoe Circuit Court with battery by means of a deadly weapon, a Class C felony; criminal recklessness while armed with a deadly weapon, a Class D felony; and misdemeanor battery.

He was being held Monday afternoon in the Tippecanoe County Jail on a $10,000 surety bond, jail staff confirmed.

The victim, Timothy Murry, suffered stab wounds to his left hand and forearm, along with minor injuries to his lip and elbows.

He was treated at St. Elizabeth Central hospital and released, a hospital spokeswoman said Monday.

The incident took place about 6:30 p.m. Saturday in the 1400 block of Elizabeth Street.

According to a probable cause affidavit, Murry told officers that he and Ringen were spraying pesticides to kill bedbugs in their home.

But Murry refused to continue after Ringen cut himself and got blood on the sprayer while trying to remove a plastic piece from it.

This led to a fight in which Murry claimed that Ringen attacked him with two vacuums and a stool, then retrieved a hunting knife. Murry said the knife was aimed at his abdomen, but he managed to block the knife with his arm.

Ringen, however, claimed it was Murry who “jumped” on him, so he reciprocated. He admitted to grabbing a baseball bat to chase Murry from the home but denied stabbing him.

Officers found a knife, with what appeared to be spots of blood on the blade and handle, in a drawer. Ringen said he “might have” put the knife there.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

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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 bugs found in Hospital for Children

Bed bugs were discovered this weekend at Riley Hospital for Children, an Indiana University Health official said this morning.

"Bed bugs continue to be an issue nationwide," said IU Health spokeswoman Abby Gras in an email. "To ensure the safety of our patients and families, we work closely with our infection control and environmental services departments to ensure the incident is isolated and dealt with in a timely manner."

A family staying at the hospital with a newborn daughter shared photos of the bedbugs and an email with WXIN (Channel 59). WXIN did not name the family in its reports, and the hospital has not named the family in responding to them.

Bed bugs are small, oval, brownish insects that live on the blood of animals or humans, according to the WebMD.com. Adult bedbugs have flat bodies about the size of an apple seed. After feeding, their bodies swell and turn a reddish color.

Although their bites cause redness and itching, the insects do not transmit diseases, according to the medical information website.

Bed bugs can be inadvertently brought home in luggage and other items after motel or hospital stays. They often hide in mattresses, box springs, bedframes and headboards. They are active mostly at night.

Cleanliness and hygiene, experts say, have no connection to incidence of bed bugs. A single stowaway ready to lay eggs can lead to an infestation in a clean and well-kept environment.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA 

School Officials Say Bedbugs at School a Hoax

Augusta Independent School Principal Robin Kelsch had enough to worry about with the flu. Kelsch didn't need a student's report of bedbugs at the school to make things worse.

But, that's what he got.

Kelsch told The Ledger Independent that the report turned out to be a hoax, but school office phones were ringing with concerned parents on the other end (http://bit.ly/y6sYQw).

Kelsch said the rumor started when a student brought in a water bug and squashed it, then told her friends it was a bedbug "just to scare them."

Kelsch said officials checked the school, then bleached and cleaned it and found "absolutely no" bedbugs.

As far as can be determined, Kelsch said, no one used the bedbug rumor as an excuse to skip school.

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 

Tenant Starts Apartment fire Trying To Kill Bedbugs

A fire started in an apartment as the tenant used a cigarette lighter to chase bed bugs, police told 24 Hour News 8.

No one was injured and the blaze was contained to a bedroom, which sustained fire, smoke and water damage.

The fire was in a second-floor residence at Fox Ridge Apartments, 1400 Alamo Hills Dr. in Kalamazoo.

Members of the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety were dispatched around 6:35 p.m. Thursday and evacuated the building. They then extinguished the flames in 15 minutes.

The resident admitted to starting the fire and tried using a fire extinguisher but had to evacuate as the fire spread.

George Williams,
General Manager - Staff Entomologist

Pest Control, RI, Pest Control, MA