The bedbugs are back in town: Pest treatment protocol underway at … – Charleston Post Courier

Bedbugs have returned to one Charleston Fire Department station just a month after officials announced they were rid of the pests that had uprooted firefighters from four stations.

Firefighters from Station 11, on Savannah Highway near Markfield Drive, will move to Station 16, about 3 miles away on Ashley Hall Plantation Road, during pest treatment. The bugs were found on a covered mattress in the station's dormitory. This is the second time they have been found at Station 11.

A pest-sniffing dog determined the infiltration was limited to one area of one room.

The department has developed a set of pest control protocols because of its previous problems with bedbugs, Interim Fire Chief John Tippett said in the release.

"In this case, they appear to be working well, as we have been able to identify this outbreak at an early stage, and take quick action while it is still confined to a small portion of one room in the facility, he said.

The last infestation of bedbugs in fire stations lasted a month, eventually culminating in the use of large propane tanks to heat the insides of the stations to rid them of bugs.

Reach Jack Evans at (843) 937-5491. Follow him on Twitter @JackHEvans.

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The bedbugs are back in town: Pest treatment protocol underway at ... - Charleston Post Courier