Category Archives: Bed Bugs Vancouver

Photo: The Canadian Press

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is set to meet with Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson this morning, but their once-rosy relationship has been threatened by the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.

Photo: File photo

The theft of a water pump and hoses being used by the BC Wildfire Service has hindered fire suppression efforts on the Harrop Creek wildfire.

As if their job was not hard enough already, BC wildfire crews also have to deal with thieves.

The theft of a water pump and hoses being used by the BC Wildfire Service has hindered fire suppression efforts on the Harrop Creek wildfire, which is burning 10 kilometres south of the communities of Harrop and Procter.

One water pump and 10, 100-foot lengths of hose went missing during the night of July 31-Aug. 1.

BC Wildfire Service officials said criminal acts such as these impact the effectiveness of fire suppression activities and pose safety risks to the public and also to the first responders working to contain these fires.

RCMP has zero tolerance for such actions and those suspected of theft or mischief will be arrested. Anyone with any information about this theft is asked to contact the RCMP or contact BC Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

As of the afternoon of Aug. 1, the Harrop Creek wildfire covered about 655 hectares and is burning at high elevations. Twenty personnel are currently establishing a fire guard with the aid of heavy equipment and one helicopter.

While this fire is visible from surrounding communities, it is currently not threatening any communities or structures.

Photo: Contributed

Historic Hat Creek Ranch near Cache Creek is on evacuation alert.

A piece of British Columbia history is under threat from wildfire.

Historic Hat Creek Ranch, 14 kilometres north of Cache Creek, has been placed on evacuation alert while the community of 16 Mile has been ordered evacuated.

An employee at Hat Creek said they were packing things up and getting ready to leave ata moments notice.

There are a lot of people helping right now, she said frantically Tuesday afternoon before getting off of the telephone.

Hat Creek Ranch was one of the stopping points for people hoping to strike it rich in the Klondike Gold Rush.

It features an historic hotel and numerous other buildings as well as cattle and other farm animals.

This is the second time fire has threatened the ranch this year.

The Canadian Press Aug 1, 2017 / 2:50 pm | Story: 203228

Photo: The Canadian Press

A home destroyed by wildfire is seen on the Ashcroft First Nation.

Wildfires continue to burn across B.C., and officials say flames have now destroyed more than 300 buildings.

Robert Turner with Emergency Management BC says 71 of those were homes, 116 were outbuildings like sheds, three were commercial buildings and 115 have yet to be identified.

He says the Cariboo Regional District, Thompson-Nicola Regional District and the Ashcroft Indian Band have been the hardest hit, but no critical infrastructure has been lost.

More than 840 fires have charred about 4,260 square kilometres in B.C. since April 1, and Kevin Skrepnek with the BC Wildfire Service says hot, dry weather is expected to increase fire activity in the coming days.

He says smoke from the fires is hanging over several communities, creating visibility and safety issues for aircraft that are fighting and detecting the fires.

About 3,700 people are currently battling the flames and 108 fire personnel from Mexico are coming to join them later this week.

The Canadian Press Aug 1, 2017 / 2:37 pm | Story: 203227

Photo: Twitter

British Columbias police complaints commissioner has ordered a public hearing into the actions of a Vancouver constable over a complaint of abuse of authority.

A Vancouver man contacted the commissioner saying he believed police entered his home unlawfully after he found a man in his laundry room in November 2015.

The complainant said he asked the stranger who he was, and the man flashed his badge, started questioning him, said he was under arrest, searched the home, then left without an explanation.

A Vancouver police discipline authority found Const. Brian Hobbs committed two acts of abuse of authority by unlawfully entering the mans home and by placing the resident in handcuffs.

But Commissioner Stan Lowe says the superintendent went beyond the Police Act in his finding and the complainant didnt testify so the ability to search for truth in the proceeding has been hampered.

Lowe says there is a reasonable basis to believe the discipline authoritys findings are incorrect and a public hearing is necessary.

Photo: Orkin

Three cities in B.C. are among the worst in Canada for bed bugs, according to pest-control company Orkin.

Toronto is worst for the hard-to-kill pests that cause itchy sores with their bites.

Vancouver ranked third behind Winnipeg, while Surrey and Burnaby came in at No. 20 and 21, respectively.

The top 25 was based on commercial and residential bed bug infestations treated by the company over the past year. Many of the worst cities were clustered in Southern Ontario.

Bed bugs are extremely efficient hitch hikers. They can move easily across a room and climb onto luggage or anything left on a bed in just one night, the company says.

They can live for up to a year without food and can ruin a vacation. Experts recommend checking hotel room beds before settling in. Look forblood stains, dead bugs, eggs and bug exoskeletons.

with files from CTV Vancouver

The Canadian Press Aug 1, 2017 / 8:50 am | Story: 203168

Photo: SFU

A haze has fallen on the Lower Mainland as winds carry smoke from wildfires in the B.C. Interior to the coast.

Environment Canadas special air quality and weather advisories continue for Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, the Sunshine Coast and eastern Vancouver Island as the smoke and a heat wave pose potential health risks.

The advisories say people with medical conditions should avoid strenuous activity outdoors and its suggested infants and the elderly stay in air-conditioned environments to avoid the pollution.

There are about 150 fires burning throughout the province with no reprieve in sight as hot, dry conditions continue.

Temperatures across the southern parts of the province are forecast to reach the mid to high 30s and no rain is expected for at least the next seven days.

Wildfire smoke blocking the sun could actually lower daytime temperatures, which Environment Canada say makes it difficult to forecast exactly how hot it will get and if records will be broken.

The Canadian Press Aug 1, 2017 / 6:14 am | Story: 203155

Photo: Twitter

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meets firefighters in Williams Lake, Monday.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is set to meet with Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson this morning, but their once-rosy relationship has been threatened by the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.

Trudeaus government approved the $7.4-billion expansion last November despite Robertsons staunch opposition to the project, which would see a seven-fold increase in the number of tankers in Vancouver-area waters.

Robertson and Trudeau have long had a friendly rapport, but the mayor has said he was profoundly disappointed by the decision, calling it a big step backwards for Canadas environment and economy.

The opioid epidemic that has claimed hundreds of lives in Vancouver is also likely to be high on the agenda for the meeting, as is the citys affordable-housing crisis.

Trudeau took a helicopter tour yesterday of the damage caused by fast-moving wildfires in British Columbias Interior and thanked the crews who have fought to the edge of exhaustion to keep people and buildings safe.

He later spoke at a $1,000-a-plate Liberal fundraiser in Surrey, where he urged the crowd of about 250 people to donate to the Canadian Red Cross to help people displaced by wildfires.

Inside the banquet hall last night, Trudeau urged supporters to help the Liberals get re-elected in 2019. Canada needs to keep going in the same direction, he said, at a time when the world is turning toward the politics of division, populism and fear.

The Canadian Press Jul 31, 2017 / 9:16 pm | Story: 203150

Photo: Twitter

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says a helicopter tour of British Columbias charred landscape Monday left him awed by the destructive force of wildfires burning across the province and impressed by the extraordinary determination of firefighters battling the flames.

Trudeau said he saw ranches in the Cariboo region surrounded by scorched earth and evidence of flames stopping just short of a runway.

The speed at which it can flare up, the way it could cut across roads, really impressed upon me the extraordinary work being done by our wildfire professionals, he said. I really saw the extent of the scale of the devastation and the damage.

Fire crews on the edge of exhaustion have pushed through to keep people and buildings safe, the prime minister added.

Trudeau, accompanied by several federal politicians and B.C. Premier John Horgan, spent an hour above a fire zone in a Canadian Forces Chinook helicopter watching spot fires and billowing smoke. At times, the dense smoke blurred out the land below.

Wildfires burning in the Cariboo have forced thousands from their homes, including 10,000 residents of Williams Lake who had to leave on July 15 when a fast-moving fire encroached on their community.

People were allowed to return last weekend, but the city remains under evacuation alert and residents must be ready to leave again at a moments notice.

Most businesses in Williams Lake had reopened Monday, but it was a staggered start as many employees were still returning to the community. .

Dozens of homes have been lost as more than 800 fires have burned around the province, scorching about 4,200 square kilometres.

There will be challenges in the months to come that we will also be there for, Trudeau said. This is what Canadians do, we stand up for each other in times of difficulty, he said.

People in the Cariboo have been hit especially hard by wildfires this year, Horgan said, echoing Trudeaus promise.

Were going to make sure people are whole when this is all over, Horgan said. The province is going to be there to help rebuild.

Photo: CTV

A Surrey man has been ordered by a judgeto stop bringing his four-year-old daughter to creep stings.

The girls mother says Lance Loy was arrested and charged with assaulting a Surrey Creep Catcherstarget in April all while his daughter was present.

The mother told CTVno child should be anywhere near a suspected predator.

Its a pedophile environment. Either hes sitting there talking beside her about pedophile activities or hes bringing her around pedophiles potentially. Nothing good has come out of this, she said.

Loy was charged after an April 19 sting turned violent.

The mother shares custody with Loy and saysIf Lance didnt have my daughter, then who had her?

Judge P. LaPrairie ordered Loy to keep the girl away from any creep catching.

Loy insiststhe child was at a safe distance that night and was never in any danger.

with files from CTV Vancouver

Photo: BC Wildfire Service

Harrop Creek wildfire

Increased wind activity has caused the size of several fires to growin the Southeast Fire Centre.

As of Monday afternoon, the Island Pond wildfire is at 150hectares, about 17 kilometres southeast of Canal Flats.Three helicopters, airtankers and heavy equipment are supporting 33 firefighting personnel on the ground. Crews are building fire guards.

The Rapid Creek wildfire is estimated to cover 300 hectares, about four km southwest of Highway 31 and about 27 km northwest of Meadow Creek.

BC Wildfire Service will be sending in heavy equipment to help ground crews create a fire break between the fire and the community. At this time, there is no threat to residents or visitors in the area.As a precautionary measure, an evacuation alert has been issued for the Poplar Creek area.

The Harrop Creek wildfire is about 10 km south of the communities of Harrop and Procter. It is estimated to cover 200 hectares, and some growth has occurred on the fires east flank.Ground crews (supported by aircraft and heavy equipment) are working thefire.

The Glacier Creek wildfire is about 26 km northeast of Copper Creek. It is estimated to cover 70 hectares.Recent growth has resulted in a road restriction being placed on the Duncan-Glacier Creek Forest Service Road.

The combination of complex terrain, remote location and aggressive fire behaviour has created unsafe working environments for ground crews. The fires continue to be monitored from the air and, in some cases may be allowed to burn.

The Southeast Fire Centre extends from the U.S. border to Mica Dam in the north and from the Okanagan Highlands and Monashee Mountains in the west to the B.C.-Alberta border.

Photo: Contributed

Police are investigating the cause of the massiveElephant Hill wildfire near Ashcroft.

Read the rest here:300+ buildings destroyed Castanet.net

Originally posted here:
Bed Bugs Vancouver Vancouver, British Columbia, Bed Bug ...

Why Are Bed Bugs So Hard To Get Rid Of?

Bed bugs are extremely reclusive. They prefer to nest in areas where they can remain undisturbed. They are commonly found nesting behind headboards, underneath the box spring, in between the box spring and the mattress, in the bed frame, or even in the drawers of night stands. But if you are getting bitten, and you looked in all those places, dont assume that you covered all the bases. Custom Bed Bug has found bed bugs nesting in the strangest of places: dresser drawers, book shelves, in picture frames, behind posters, in wheelchairs, in walkers, and many other places you would never think to look, including one case where they were found in a prosthetic leg!

Bed bugs will invade any location that humans frequent. Although they are most likely to infest homes and apartments, they also commonly show up in hotels, movie theaters, public transportation, office buildings, call centers, and basically any other place where humans sit or lay for extended periods of time.

Bed bugs are extremely prolific. Bed bug females lay between 1-5 eggs per day. Bed bug eggs hatch within 6-10 days. Bed bugs do not have a larval stage, but instead they progress from eggs through 5 nymphal stages to a fully mature adult. Once hatched, a bed bug nymph immediately looks for a human to feed on. They typically feed every 10 days, but bed bugs can survive for many months without blood. Bed bugs reach adulthood in 3-5 weeks and have an average life span of 6-12 months. A single female can lay 200 to 300 eggs throughout her life.

Researchers have determined that heat treatments are by far the most efficient and quickest method of killing bed bugs. This is because heat penetrates all areas where bed bugs nest. Our heat treatments will eliminate bed bugs in one treatment meaning your home will be bug-free by the end of our service.

By contrast, attacking bed bugs with only spray applications typically requires 3-4 treatments over the course of several months to get rid of bed bugs completely. This is because there are no pesticides that are effective on bed bug eggs. Therefore, pest control companies are relegated to an extended service regimen over several months to break the bed bugs egg cycle.

Using heat to kill bed bugs requires extensive training, and highly specialized equipment, which is why it is necessary to call Custom Bed Bug for help defeating bed bugs. Our technicians go through at least two months of training to ensure they are qualified with heating protocols that will kill bed bugs without damaging your property. The training covers everything from bed bug behavior to common hiding spots, ensuring the delivery of superior bed bug heat treatments.

We perform the procedure using special heating equipment and processes, including heating systems equipped with thermostats and sensors that allow us to safely heat an infested area. Our thermal bug extermination process can kill all bed bugs, including adults, nymphs, and eggs. The heaters raise the ambient air anywhere between 120F to 140F a lethal temperature range for bed bugs and their eggs.

To ensure mortality, this temperature must be maintained long enough to ensure penetration in all areas where the bed bugs could be hiding. During the process, our technicians will move the contents of your space around to reach every cold spot in your area.

We strategically place our industry-specific heaters throughout the infested location. The heat penetrates furniture, mattresses, carpets, and other cracks and crevices to make sure that your property stays pest-free. Our bed bug heat extermination services allow us to combat bed bugs in just one session, without conducting extensive preparations or using chemical pesticides. In fact, it is as simple as leaving your home in the morning and returning to a bed bug-free environment!

In contrast to our bed bug heating treatment, attacking bed bugs with only spray applications typically requires 3-4 treatments over the course of several months to get rid of bed bugs completely. This is because there are no pesticides that are absolutely effective on bed bug eggs.

Resorting to liquid pesticide could, for instance, lead more chemically resistant pests, which comes with no long-term guarantee. Furthermore, other treatment methods like tenting and fumigation may not target all bugs and eggs, potentially worsening the situation. Pest control companies, therefore, might have to carry out an extended service regimen over several months to break the bed bugs egg cycle.

If youre tired of bed bugs keeping you up at night, give us a call. As bed bug specialists we know both the frustration of an infestation and the relief of proper elimination. Our technicians are highly-trained, professional individuals who wont rush your service. We will take the time to answer all your questions and ensure that you are 100% satisfied with every aspect of your service.

The rest is here:
Bed Bug Heat Treatment | Custom Bed Bug

Bed bugs are usually brought into the house from the outside, on clothing, baggage, second-hand furniture or in laundry done in an infested home. Social stigma is attached to them more than to any other insect. This is unfair since the most conscientious homemaker may bring them in on his or her clothing after brushing up against someone while shopping or spending an afternoon at the movies.

No Matter How Clean You Keep Your Home--Bed Bugs Can Thrive As Long As They Have A Host To Feed On: You

Once in the house, they will hide all day in the most out-of-the-way place it can find. Its hiding place may be a good distance away from the bedin wall spaces, floor cracks, behind partitions, in furniture cracksor it may burrow into the mattress tufts or crawl in among the crevices in the bed frame. Wherever it hides, it has an uncanny instinct for finding its way easily to the bed when the lights are out. They will climb up from the floor, climb walls and drop from ceilings with ease to get at their victims. They are attracted to your body warmth and the carbon dioxide you exhalesure signs that theres a live one waiting to be feasted on.

Because of the increased amount of traveling we do today compared to a few decades ago, bed bugs can be a real problem in hotels, buses, airplanes and other areas where groups of people gather together. Buildings that house several people or families at once can also cause infestation problems (apartment buildings, condos, senior citizen homes, etc.) since they can travel between walls with ease.

Picture Of Bedbug Feeding On A Human Source: Wikipedia.org

Before eating, the bedbug (Cimex lectulariusalso known as a chinch, a red-coat or a mahogany flat) is a small one-quarter to three-eighths of an inch, wingless, paper-thin insect, oval in shape and dark brown in color. After becoming engorged, the body thickens and is elongated. The ingested blood changes its color to a dull red. The mouth is constructed in the shape of a beak, which it plunges into the body of its victim, sucking the blood up through it. At the same time a fluid is being secreted to facilitate the eating process. This fluid is extremely irritating to the skin of most human beings and causes swelling, irritation and itching.

Tip:

When sleeping in an unfamiliar bed (at a hotel for example), pull back the bed sheets and look at the bare mattressif you see excrement (it will look like rust spots on the mattress), leave the room immediately and find another hotel to stay at.

You can call in a professional exterminator to fumigate the home and furniture inside, this is preferable since professional exterminators are familiar with the hiding habits of these critters and the chemicals they use are usually very effective. However, if fumigation is out of your budget or youd like to try a more natural remedy to kill them, food grade Diatomaceous Earth is a safe and harsh-chemical free method.

Diatomaceous Earth is a natural, effective means of pest control (Ive previously recommended it for fleas and ant control). You can find it in garden centers (make sure to buy the food grade stuff). Its a soft, chalk-like sedimentary rock that is crumbled into a fine white to off-white powder.

Diatomaceous Earth is easily picked up by the hairy bodies of most insects, whereupon it scratches through their protective wax layers and they also absorb some of this material. The result being that the insects lose water rapidly, dry up and die. Further protection is provided by the powders property of repelling many insects. In houses it can be used effectively to prevent the entry of certain insects such as earwigs, ants, and cockroaches, and to control these and others that are present in cupboards containing food, carpets, basements, attics, window ledges, pet areas (for fleas), etc. In all of these examples it is important to place a small amount of the powder in corners, cracks, crevices and other areas where insects might hide.

(Source: Ecological Agriculture Projects, McGill University).

Steps To Take:

It will take a few weeks before they all will be killed (you have to ensure that the entire life cycle has been haltedno new eggs waiting to hatch, etc.). Keep applying the Diatomaceous Earth and petroleum jelly until all signs of the infestation are gone.

Try applying one of the following for relief:

If there is a danger of infection, use iodine as a topical antiseptic to control it.

Source: Some of the information above is from Womans Home Companion Household Book (1948)

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Bed Bugs: Treatment & Tips For Getting Rid Of Them ...

Are there health concerns bedbugs?

Bed bugs cause a variety of negative physical health, mental health andeconomic consequences. Many people have mild to severe allergic reaction to the bites with effects ranging from no reaction to a small bite mark to, in rare cases, anaphylaxis (severe, whole-body reaction). These bites can also lead to secondary infections of the skin such as impetigo, ecthyma, and lymphanigitis. Bed bugs may also affect the mental health of people living in infested homes. Reported effects include anxiety, insomnia and systemic reactionsCDC-EPA Statement On Bed bugs

Do Bed Bugs Transmit Disease?

Bedbugs, like mosquitoes and ticks pierce the skin and suck the blood of their victims. They also inject an anesthesia, like mosquitoes do. Unlike mosquitoes and ticks, bedbugs have not been scientifically proven to transmit diseases.

Bedbugs are suspected of transmitting 41 human diseases

HIV has been found to survive up to 8 days inside a bed bug after it fed on an HIV positive victim

Hepatitis B can survive 7 weeks inside a bed bug, which has fed on a host carrying Hepatitis B

Whether or not bed bugs can transmit human disease agents remains a point of contention. Attorneys representing plaintiffs bitten by the bugs in hotels and apartments often firmly state that the risk is real and warrants compensation.While not scientifically proven to transmit disease, the record of science and the medical community has not been totally reliable concerning some public health issues.

What is the most serious health concern with bed bugs?

One of the most serious health concerns with bed bug bites, is MRSA. Methicillin Resistant Staph Infection is potentially deadly. Today it is also commonly called Medically Resistant Staph Infection. The scratching associated with repeated bug bites breaks the skin. In the age of MRSA there are significant health risks with repeated skin breaks.Different people have different reactions to bed bug bites. For many, severe allergic reactions cause large welts, itching, and extreme discomfort.Left untreated, victims are covered in large itching welts.

Bed bugs can hatch in 10 days and reach maturity in as little as 21 days, they reproduce at an astonishing rate. Bed bugs feed every night, biting their victims repeatedly. They are voracious, and are adept at feeding without the host feeling the bites until morning.

Thepersonshown received these bites in a single night, staying in an infested room. Any break in the skin causes increased risk for MRSA. Repeated bed bug bites and scratching causes health risks that are potentially dangerous.

MRSA is a growing global public health menace because of its rapid spread from hospital settings into communities of healthy people, says NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. This is an evolving pathogen that in recent decades has developed resistance to common medical treatments and now is finding new mechanisms to spread and cause severe illness.Bedbugs, A Growing Health Menace

Over 90,000 people per year are developing life threatening infections caused by the drug resistant staph germ MRSA.MRSA- Deadly Threat

While the jury is still out as to the ultimate effect of bed bug bites on society as a whole, a bed bug infestation should be treated seriously and quickly to prevent possible health risks for you and your family.

Pesticide health concerns.

With Bed Bugs, the Cure May Be Worse Than the Disease.

As reported in Time Magazine Bloodsucking bed bugs have made a comeback in recent years. But as victims of infestation have become increasingly desperate to rid their homes of the bedeviling pests, many have only done themselves more harm.

A total of 111 illnesses associated with bed bug-related insecticides were reported in seven states between 2003 and 2010 (mostly in the last three years), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Thursday. Most cases of poisoning were not severe, but the data included one death.The actual number of insecticide-related illnesses may be far higher than found in the CDC study, because it included only those that were reported to a surveillance system in 12 states. Further, many people experiencing minor symptoms, who didnt seek medical treatment or advice from a poison control center, would not have been captured by the system.

In nearly 40% of cases of insecticide-related illness, extermination was attempted by consumers who werent certified to use pesticides. The problem is only being made worse by bed bugs increasing resistance to commonly available pesticides, the CDC said, which may further drive peoples misuse of toxic chemicals. Do-it-yourselfers should follow product instructions carefully.

Read more:http://healthland.time.com/2011/09/23/with-bed-bugs-the-cure-may-be-worse-than-the-disease/#ixzz1n4Ft7EMf

See more here:
Health Concerns bed bugs - BC BED BUG EXPERT

Ready for your daily dose of gross and nasty news?

Vancouver has been ranked as one of the worst cities in Canada for bed bugs.

You read that right.

RELATED:Vancouver and Burnaby Are Among The Rattiest Cities In B.C.

Orkin Canada released its list of top bed bug cities and Vancouver came in at #4, while Burnaby was ranked at #20.

Toronto was ranked as the worst city in Canada for bed bugs.

Photo: Orkin Canada

The findings by Orkin Canada are based on the number of commercial and residential bed bug treatments carried out by the countrys largest pest control provider reads a press release.

Heres the full list of Canadas worst bed bug cities:

If you want to prevent bed bugs from being an issue for yourself, Orkin advises you to:

Plan your next night out, enter contests, and stay connected.

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Vancouver Is One Of The Worst Bed Bug Cities In Canada