Bee attack sends 6 to hospital

Six people in Rancho El Dorado were taken to the hospital Saturday after a bee attack.

According to the Maricopa Fire Department, the incident happened around 5 p.m. on the 21000 block of North Van Loo Drive. Fire crews arrived to find a large amount of bees in the area and several bee sting victims running and screaming for help.

The bees were attacking people in an area that was two blocks long and involved several residences. Three adults and three minors were transported to the hospital for evaluation. One of the adults had nearly 300 bee stings counted at the hospital. Two firefighters were also stung during the rescue.

Firefighters wore bee veils for protection before stepping out of the engine as the extremely aggressive bees immediately attacked them. Fire hoses with foam were immediately deployed for protection while victims were located and moved to a safer location for evaluation by paramedics.

Fire crews were on scene approximately two hours and were finally able to locate the hive in an opened water valve box at one of the residences. The bees were sprayed with foam and the hive was contained and destroyed

The City of Maricopa Fire Department thanked residents and visitors in the area for their understanding and patience while the neighborhood was shut down for over two hours during Halloween. Dusk helped calm the bees which made it hard to locate the hive.

MFD encourages residents to call in bee control experts when they discover a hive.