Homeowners Begin Cleanup After Massive Fly Infestation
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Earlier this month we told you about some Isanti County families who were dealing with a serious fly issue. Homeowners along County Road 42 were dealing with a major fly infestation.
County officials said a farmer bought manure last fall and kept it over the winter. They say he then spread the manure -- which contained garbage and maggots -- onto a field, causing flies to spread to nearby homes.
"I have never seen anything like this in my life, and I hope to never see it again," said homeowner Tim Mruz.
Instead of using a simple fly swatter to solve the problem in his pole barn, Mruz had no choice but to surrender and wait out the thousands of blow flies that invaded his property. They eventually died, and now he'll literally be shoveling out piles of dead bugs.
"It's hard to reserve my judgment and my language, but 'frustrated' is the word," said Mruz.
Clean-up will be a major task. And while homeowners like Mruz look to get started, there's no guarantee they won't have this problem all over again.
During round one of the invasion earlier this month, the county sprayed, killing off a good portion of the pesky invaders. But a second wave came through last week -- they died too, but created quite a buzz while they were here.
"There is a concern of what are we going to be dealing with in September?" said homeowner Dawn Strande. "Because these could keep hatching if it's not stayed on top of and treated."
Strande is still cleaning up dead flies around her property, and her son is getting married in her backyard in September. She's worried about the wedding, and about what the flies left behind.
"And there's concerns as to what happened to our siding," Strande said. "Had they gotten underneath? Are there issues with our siding now? I'm really frustrated that someone would be as inconsiderate as to do something like this and pretty much tell us if we have a problem with this we can spray our houses."
Homeowners told us they are considering taking legal action against the farmer as a group. He could not be reached by phone tonight.