Firefighters battle flames, fleeing bedbugs

DENVER (AP) - September 30, 2010 -- Denver firefighters ran into more than the normal hazards at a house fire.

Crews responding to the blaze Wednesday also had to battle bedbugs, the bloodsucking insects quickly becoming the scourge of households and businesses across the country.

Lt. Phil Champagne of the Denver Fire Department tells The Denver Post that firefighters had to be decontaminated after going into an attic where items were infested with bedbugs.

The bugs scurried away from the flames and latched on to firefighters' equipment and gear. Some of the gear had to bagged so the bugs wouldn't get a free ride to the firehouse.

There were no injuries, but the home was declared uninhabitable.

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