Refrigerator might have caused bug bomb apartment explosion

By Matt Weiser and Bill Lindelof - blindelof@sacbee.com

E-Mail

Comments (0)

Text Size:

tool goes here

Fire investigators say today that a refrigerator might have provided the "ignition source" to detonate a cloud of insecticide in a Citrus Heights apartment -- a bug bomb explosion that caused walls to separate from the roof.

Three families were left homeless in Citrus Heights on Sunday after the explosion that was triggered by overzealous use of insecticide foggers.

A tenant of the three-unit apartment building in the 7500 block of Cook Avenue was trying to deal with a cockroach infestation when he activated 10 cans of insectide fogger in the apartment, said Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District Capt. Christian Pebbles.

"Metro Fire Arson unit cannot rule out the refrigerator as the ignition source," Pebbles stated in a release.

There was no fire in the building, but the explosion caused major structural damage, forcing the building to be condemned, Pebbles said. The three families occupying the building got help Sunday from the Red Cross to find temporary housing. No one was hurt in the explosion.

"We're lucky because there was flying glass all the way across the street," Pebbles said. "We had massive damage to the entire building. We have structural bearing walls blown out."

He said the tenant had asked his landlord for help with the insect problem but received no response. But using 10 foggers in an apartment was "well over the recommended limit" for deploying the devices, Pebbles said.

The California Department of Pesitcide Regulation warns that in typical residential use, label directions call for only one or two 8-ounce cans of fogger.

Label directions advise users to turn off ignition sources such as gas pilot lights and electrical appliances such as air conditioners and refrigerators that might produce a spark when they cycle on and off, the department said in a press release.

Propellants used in most foggers are flammable.

Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.