Bedbugs hit Hendricks

Ten Hendricks residents cleared and evacuated their rooms last Friday after not passing a bedbug inspection.

About two weeks after new student orientation, Hendricks resident and freshman Paul Sweet and his roommate Ryan Orlando had been experiencing bed bugs problems.

After waking up one morning, Sweet said he was covered in bites, but was unsure where they came from because he was camping the day before. He still notified his residential assistant Ian Kizanis about the findings on his body.

Kizanis said Campus Facilities took Sweet and Orlando’s mattress and heated them up to 180 degrees because bedbugs tend to hide in the crevices of a mattress. He added that the high heat is supposed to be hot enough to kill the bedbugs.

The Point could not get a response
from Campus Facilities.

Sweet also added that they had to put all their clothes in bins, which were also heated up and they received new bed frames because that’s another common place bedbugs hide.

Sweet and Orlando were soon allowed to move back in their dorms. However, when the second bed bug inspection took place last Wednesday his room failed again, which confirmed that the bedbugs caused the bites he found on his body.

“I didn’t even notice [my room had bed bugs] the second time [inspections were held],” Sweet said.

Sweet and Orlando planned to stay in their dorm room the next night, but had to spend a night in a hotel along with a couple other Hendricks residents who had to evacuate their room as well due to bedbugs.

The next morning, ‘bedbug dogs’ were in Hendricks and sniffed out three other rooms with bedbugs.

Exterminators were called and a total of five dorms had to be evacuated that same afternoon.

Tanner Wilson, one of the students who had to leave his room, said he only ever saw one bed bug. After that, he washed everything in his room. He said he noticed his bed frame was old and had openings that were perfect for bed bugs to live. So when the bedbug dogs came, he had them sniff the bed frame and bedbug droppings were found.

Wilson had to then leave the dorm as well.

“It’s almost like moving in and getting settled again, but hopefully this is the last of the issue and no one else has to go through it,” Wilson said.

Wilson also added that PLNU was very quick to act when bed bugs were found in their rooms.

“Two rooms in my hall had to do this twice because of some kind of infestation. However, it is nice that we now get metal bed frames, but I don’t know why we didn’t in the first place,” Wilson
said. “Also, Point Loma is very quick to act on this issue which is really nice that they didn’t take their time.”

The residents were allowed to move back into their room that same night after four hours, for safety precautions.