By Jesse Leavenworth
The Hartford Courant
MANCHESTER, Conn. — Bed bugs, a constant menace to first responders, were found in a firefighters’ bunk room recently.
Beds were discarded and an exterminator treated all affected areas at the Manchester Fire Department’s Main Street headquarters, Fire Chief Don Moore said Tuesday. Part of the Eighth Utilties District, the department serves the northern third of town.
A firefighter with the night crew reported being bitten last week, and Moore said department leaders acted quickly. The seven beds could have been decontaminated, but he decided to clear eveything, including the frames, and take advantage of the opportunity to renovate the room. Carpeting will be torn out and the room re-painted. Total cost, Moore said, will be about $7,500.
Firefighters, police officers and ambulance crews are exposed regularly to bed bugs. Homes and other places where the tiny parasites have been found are logged into a database, and emergency dispatchers warn first responders of the hazard.
But not all infested sites are known. Also, people carry bed bugs on their bodies and clothing, and emergency personnel often have to get close to control a person or render aid. If they know or strongly suspect contact with bed bugs, Manchester police officers have their uniforms incinerated, department spokesman Capt. Christopher Davis said.
His department, Moore said, had not had a bed bug problem previously. Both he and Fire Chief David Billings of the town Fire/Rescue/EMS Department said firefighters try to be as careful as possible in places where they may be exposed, wearing gloves and trying not to kneel on beds or carpets.
Adult bed bugs are about the size of an apple seed. They tend to be more plentiful in buildings with more people and many places to hide, such as apartments.
As people sleep, the blood suckers quietly feast. They can leave welts on the skin, and some people have severe allergic reactions to the bites. One telltale sign of the bugs’ presence is little brown excrement spots on bedding. Females can lay hundreds of sticky eggs, and the tiny nymphs are hungry when they hatch.
Bed bugs, however, are not the only pests first responders encounter. Bilings said firefighters in a neighboring town had a problem several years ago with scabies, which raises itchy rashes and is caused by tiny, burrowing mites.
Copyright 2016 The Hartford Courant