Bedbug-Infested Apartment Buildings May Be At Risk For Accidental Fires As Unresponsive Landlords May Lead Tenants To Engage In Unsafe 'Do-It-Yourself' Pest Extermination Remedies

In Detroit, Michigan, the Detroit Free Press reports:

• A Detroit man was so overwhelmed by the bedbugs in his Midtown apartment that he sprayed himself with alcohol and then tried to light one of them on fire, badly burning himself in the ensuing flames.
  
  By the time the accidental fire was extinguished, about four units had been destroyed by flames, and two dozen more received water damage.
  
  The fire started at around 4:30 a.m. Sunday at the St. Antoine Gardens apartment complex on Chrysler Drive, just east of Wayne State's campus. That's when the man thought bedbugs had returned to his apartment and sprayed alcohol on his couch and body in an attempt to destroy them, said Dan Austin, a mayor’s office spokesman.
  
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  Bedbugs are endemic to St. Antoine Apartments, residents said []. Fifth-floor resident Rolando Millender said he knows of seven people on his floor alone who have filed complaints about bedbugs before. A management official on-site declined to comment, and other officials with the company could not be reached.
  
  The man who started the fire had been complaining about bedbugs for at least four months, [building resident Phyllis] Waller said. Though she noted that a crew had been coming every two weeks to tackle bedbugs, [building resident Johanahn] Larsosa noted: “Obviously they didn’t do enough.”
  
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  Many of the residents are receiving Section 8 assistance, though it’s not clear if all of them do. The complex has about 120 units.
  
  The man, who has not been identified, is not the first to spark a major fire in Detroit while fighting bedbugs. Sherry Young said she had been battling bedbugs for close to a year on the city’s west side when she put rubbing alcohol all over herself and the floor, even as her oven and stovetop were on as well.
  
  The fire caused the 48-unit complex roof to cave in, and most of the building was destroyed either by fire or water damage. Five people were taken to a hospital, including Young, who had minor injuries..

For the story, see Man trying to destroy bedbugs sets apartment ablaze.