Family Home Burned Down After Attempt to Kill Bed Bugs Goes Wrong

Family Home Burned Down After Attempt to Kill Bed Bugs Goes Wrong
Peter Griffin/Public Domain Picture
Simon Veazey
Updated:

A woman has burned down a house after her attempt at exterminating bed bugs went badly wrong.

Rubbing alcohol, an undrinkable alchohol product, is said to repel bed begs and dissolve their eggs.

It is also highly flammable, as a Cincinnati woman discovered after dousing bed bug infestations with the liquid near an open flame.

Officials said that the rubbing alcohol started a fire which caused $250,000 of damage and displaced 10 people, according to WXIX.

It is the second major fire in Cincinnati in the last two weeks caused by someone trying to kill bed bugs.

The woman is not named in any of the reports of the blaze, which happened at a multi-family home in Hutchins Avenue, Avondale late Friday Dec. 9.

One resident, Kamaron Lyshe, posted a video of the fire on Facebook, writing: “My House caught fire n got burned down – all my stuff is gone maaaaaan.”

Seven adults and three teenagers were displaced from the five-unit multi-family home, and the American Red Cross is helping them with temporary lodging, clothing and meals, according to WXIX.

District 3 Fire Chief Randy Freel emphasized the fire department’s previous advice not to try to tackle infestations. “Get a professional,” Freel said, according to WXIX.

Last month, a 13-year-old boy set fire to a building in Cincinnati in an attempt to kill bed bugs, causing $300,000 in damage, and displacing eight people, according to authorities.

According to officials, the teenager had been trying to kill the bedbug with alcohol and a match.

“This was accidental. He wasn’t in there just playing with matches. It wasn’t the smartest thing, obviously, but he was trying to get rid of a bed bug,” District 3 Chief Marc Monahan told WAFB 9 at the time.

in November 2015, a woman from Detroit accidentally started a massive fire when she tried to get rid of bedbugs in her home.

That fire ripped through the 48-unit apartment complex and the roof caved in according to the Detroit Free Press. Nine fire engines were involved in fighting the blaze.
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Simon Veazey
Simon Veazey
Freelance Reporter
Simon Veazey is a UK-based journalist who has reported for The Epoch Times since 2006 on various beats, from in-depth coverage of British and European politics to web-based writing on breaking news.
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