Firefighters were unable to leave their trucks until putting on protective gear in fear of being inundated with thousands of bees swarming the street, Gilbert Fire & Rescue officials stated.
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At least six people were stung repeatedly after bees converged in an Arizona neighborhood on Tuesday.
The three-year-old was stung anywhere between 75 and 100 times and had been “rushed to hospital”, he said.
Sometime during the incident, the unnamed firefighter was stung by the bees after they worked their way into his protective suit.
Reports of children getting attacked by the swarms made firefighters to rush in.
Gilbert Fire and Rescue says the bees were extremely aggressive.
When crews arrived on scene, they saw thousands of bees swarming the area and also advised people to stay indoors.
Connor said it was not clear what prompted the bees to become aggressive but that it was not uncommon in Arizona for hives to be found in neighbourhood trees and that one might have been disturbed somehow. It wasn’t a hive, they were swarming.
Other firefighters suffered minor stings, but did not need medical attention at the hospital, KPHO reported.
A barricade of bees blocked firefighters and paramedics from entering the front door so emergency crews scaled a wall behind the home.
The department’s unidentified firefighter took the brunt of the attack when bees penetrated his suit and pierced his face.
Five residents were stung and three of them – a 3-year-old boy, a 14-year-old girl and a 22-year-old woman – were hospitalized. It made residents run to their homes and hide before firefighters managed to chase off the attackers–bee swarms.
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If there’s a lesson to be learned here, it’s summarized by Mike Connor: “If you find a hive, leave it alone”.
