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Chandler Public Library treated for bed bugs after teen bit

Posted at 6:41 PM, Nov 09, 2017
and last updated 2017-11-10 10:39:51-05

Is it an infestation of bed bugs at the Chandler Public Library on the Basha High School Campus? 

One Valley mother seems to think so. After her daughter’s friend showed her a picture of what appears to be bed bugs on a chair she was sitting in; her arm red and covered with insect bites.

MAP: Bed bugs found at 16 Valley locations

“When she looked at the chair she saw them crawling,” says Jaclyn, a mother who noticed the bugs.  “I immediately thought for sure that I was bed bugs.”

She says a librarian came outside on Tuesday to let them know that the teen had been bitten by what could have been bed bugs and they should go get it looked at. Parent’s received this letter from the school’s principal this morning: 

Basha Families,

Yesterday there were rumors that we had bedbugs on a chair in the City of Chandler Library located on our campus. After a thorough examination of the building, this was not confirmed. To be on the safe side, we did not have students go to the library until the examination was completed. Once completed, we did allow the students to go back into the library yesterday afternoon. As an additional precaution, the city and district decided to treat the library last night. I want to thank the City of Chandler personnel and our district 

support services for their prompt attention and cooperation. The safety of our students is very important, which is why we choose to error on the side of caution.

On other topics, we would like to thank the parents of our outstanding AP students for allowing us to put signs in their yards recognizing their student’s academic prowess on AP exams. We know the time, effort, and energy it takes to succeed on these tests and we appreciate the family support. We are very proud of all of our students!!! We also want to the thank our community for their support in our M&O Override election that passed with 64% approval rating. This will enable to continue our successful programs and recruit and retain quality staff.

Sincerely,

David Loutzenheiser

Principal

Because the library is run by the City of Chandler we reached out to them. A spokesperson told us that because the library is on the Basha High School campus, the school is in charge of upkeep.  

The spokesperson said they worked with the school to address the issue. 

The library was closed to the public on Wednesday, and an exterminator was called out. Pest control was done after the library closed for the night and it was opened up to the public Thursday morning.  

The spokesperson also said one chair was identified to have “bugs” on it and it was removed, along with a few surrounding chairs.  

We asked if the exterminator that was called out could identify what type of bug it was, but they couldn’t provide an answer.  

ABC15 called other Valley exterminators who said it’s fairly easy to identify a bed bug by just going out to the scene, looking at the insect, and identifying where it was found. 

They say exterminators are trained to identify the tell-tale signs; looking for fecal points, blood spots, and looking between crevices and cracks. 

Truly Nolen Pest and Termite Control says bed bugs are nocturnal, but when they sense the carbon dioxide we exhale they will come out and bite.  

They also say most pest control companies use chemicals to treat for bed bugs, and those chemicals are an immediate kill. They say it is safe for humans to enter a room after an extermination once the chemicals have dried up, typically within a few minutes.  

District spokesperson Terry Locke said there is no previous history of bed bugs at the library and even though they couldn’t identify what type of bug it was, they treated for bed bugs anyway. 

He says they follow state guidelines for pest control and that they can follow us again in two weeks. 

“I don’t know if it was just their way of trying to brush things under the rug so that the public wasn’t made aware and it wasn’t a big issue,” says Jaclyn.

Parents we spoke to say they would have just liked to have had better communication on the issue.