SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – An exterminator specializing in bed bugs says the Housing Authority's Stonequist Apartments has a medium to low infestation after inspecting the building.
Town and Country Solutions out of Rochestor, N.Y. began treating the problem at the complex Wednesday morning.
Pavel Fesyuk, a bed bug killing specialist says the little blood suckers are tough to kill.
"The guys have gone through determined which rooms have an issue they put an "X" on the door and then I either do a barrier...or an intensive full treatment," Fesyuk said.
He and his team are going floor to floor, top to bottom checking all 176 apartments. After checking three floors; Operations Manager for Town and Country Solutions Caleb Fabry says they only found five infest rooms. NEWS10's Christine O'Donnell caught up with them on the eight floor.
"This room is a low medium infestation, it's not nearly the worst we've seen, but it's the worst we've seen in this building," Fabry said looking at the flat, apple seed like bugs in the mattress of one room. "This particular person doesn't even know they have bed bugs," Fabry said.
Fabry says though the bed bugs feed on the blood of humans while they sleep; they're not a real danger to people.
"20 percent of people react to the bites, the other 80 don't; so this is one of the people who falls in the 80 percent, so every night she goes to sleep she's getting bit by bed bugs," Fabry said.
Executive Director Ed Spychalski says he takes full responsibility for the problem.
When asked why he didn't act quicker to address the problem that's spanned the last 6 months Spychalski says the Housing Authority did work to treat it, but did not know how serious the bed bug problem really was.
"We just realized that we need to go to the next level and that's what we're doing right now to knock this thing out, the mayor wants this taken care of, our board chairman wants it taken care of...the residents want it taken care of and I want it taken care of immediately," Spychalski said.
"I don't blame the management necessarily, at least they're doing something now," Fabry said.
The residents were asked to leave there apartments for a few hours while the rooms were treated. Toni Brown, who lives on the eight floor waited in the resident-lounge eating pizza provided by the Housing Authority while she waits.
"I'm nervous," Brown said.
Brown says she doesn't think she has bed bugs, but she and the other residents won't know until Fabry briefs all the tenants at the end of the day.
Fabry says bed bugs are one of the hardest bugs to kill, so Town and Country Solutions will be back in 30 days to check on this problem and again 6 months. He says it cost $600 to treat one infested room and they should be able to finish the job for less than $100,000.
Stonequist Apartments
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