Thursday afternoon our KHON2 newsroom received a tip that over a half-dozen office chairs were sitting out near the parking lot of the Kapolei State Building.
The chairs were lined up and wrapped in what appeared to be black trash bags... each with a warning sign.
"It says bed bugs don't touch - it's real gross," said Wade Riccardi, Waianae resident.
"That's gross actually, said Derrek Tagalog, Kapolei resident.
Curious we asked around and employees of the building said the chairs showed up in the morning.
The state Sanitation branch said they received a complaint that there were bed bugs in the building. When a vector control inspector went to investigate she found 1 live bed bug in a chair on the first floor.
"They should be thrown away that's gross," said Tamara Labang, Kapolei resident.
But, less than 10 minutes after we got there, security guards grabbed the chairs and hauled them inside, removing the bags and signs. The chairs were then re-arranged back in the waiting area of a first floor office at the Department of Human Services. Some did not like what they saw.
"They obviously should have thrown the chairs away but they just brought the chairs back in," said Riccardi.
But, the the state sanitation branch defends the move.
"The best way to treat the problem for furniture that's easily moveable is to bag it in black plastic bags, dark plastic bags and leave them in the sun for at least 3-4 hours," says Peter Oshiro, Environmental Health Program Manager, State Dept. Of Health Sanitation Branch.
Oshiro says the quick and easy sun-treatment is the best way to treat furniture without chemicals.
"The reason for that is the lethal temperature is 115-120 degrees, so it will kill eggs, the live bugs if any.," he says.
Oshiro says due to budget cuts, inspectors don't usually respond to complaints of bed bugs at private residences or buildings. But, because this was at a state building, they are responsible for investigating.
Oshiro says aside from the one live bed bug that was found, there doesn't appear to be any infestation of bed bugs at the Kapolei state building.
"Apparently it's not a real infestation right now," he says.
The state sanitation branch says they've been receiving a lot more complaints for bed bugs, but because the pests don't carry diseases they're not considered a public health problem.
