Bee attack in Petaluma field sends elderly man to hospital
PETALUMA – An elderly man was taken to the hospital after he was attacked by a swarm of bees in a field south of Petaluma on Wednesday.
According to fire crews, the 89-year-old was flying model airplanes with friends just off Lakeville Highway when the swarm stung him multiple times. The man tried to walk back to where his car was, but the man eventually collapsed.
One of his friends performed CPR until paramedics arrived to treat him.
Victor Barbieri who was with the group said he's never seen such vicious bees in his life.
"Bees come around but never this viciously or aggressively," he said. "The bees were uppity. They picked on him and when he came back here the bees followed him, so they attacked all of us."
Barbieri said the group visits the area frequently to fly the planes and never experienced what he saw Wednesday. The attack was triggered when one model plane crashed near a commercial hive. A beekeeper rushed over to get help.
"Somebody who, whoever was taking care of the bees drove their car here to warn us that he was being attacked," said Barbieri. "That's when we saw him staggering back here."
As he tried to help, Barbieri was also stung by the swarm of bees. At one point, he says someone placed a blanket over them to keep the bees away but it just ended up trapping the ones underneath.
According to Duty Chief Kelly Bradley of North Bay Fire, once EMTs arrived from the fire department, they too had to contend with the bees. The initial call just reported a bee sting, Bradley said.
"There were still bees swarming around the patient and the first responders so in order to make everything safe, we moved them to a safer location," said Bradley, who added that two firefighters were also stung by the bees.
Bradley said that his most recent information about the victim is that he is in stable condition.
"When last I heard, he was doing fine," Bradley said at 6:15 p.m. Wednesday.
