Parks & Recreation Services Crews to Complete Mosquito Fogging Friday Night
Brandon, MB – City of Brandon Parks & Recreation Services crews will resume mosquito fogging at 10 p.m. tonight (Friday, July 17th) in pockets across the City that were unable to be completed during last night’s fogging activity. While crews were out fogging from 9 p.m. on Thursday to 6 a.m. on Friday, equipment and mechanical issues resulted in portions of neighbourhoods across the City not being fogged. At this time, Parks and Recreation Services can confirm the following areas were successfully fogged:
Ø Areas west of First Street between Kirkcaldy Drive and Victoria Avenue;
Ø All areas east of First Street, south of Victoria Avenue;
Ø All areas south of Richmond Avenue between First Street and 26th Street.
Beginning at 10 p.m. tonight (Friday, July 17th), the City’s four fogging trucks will be dispatched to the areas of the City that have not yet been fogged, with completion anticipated by no later than 6 a.m. on Saturday, July 18th. Fogging will NOT be undertaken if it is raining, if the temperature dips below 13 degrees Celsius, or if the wind speed is in excess of 16 kilometres/hour. In the event fogging is postponed again due to weather conditions, the public will be notified and fogging activity will be re-scheduled to the next suitable evening. The City of Brandon would like to extend its sincere thanks to residents for their continued patience as crews work this evening to complete this fogging program.
The insecticide to be used in this fogging program is DeltaGard 20EW. As crews are not able to announce in advance which areas of the City the trucks be starting in or where fogging trucks may be at any given time throughout the night, the City of Brandon would ask for as much cooperation from the public in areas that have not yet been fogged to ensure that they limit their activity outdoors between 9 a.m. this evening and 6 a.m. tomorrow morning and follow the below recommendations to minimize exposure during a fogging program:
- Whenever possible, stay indoors during and immediately after spraying;
- Close all windows and doors. Turn off air conditioning units and close vents to circulate
- indoor air, before the spraying begins;
- Bring laundry, toys and pets indoors before the spraying occurs;
- Cover swimming pool surfaces when possible;
- Wash homegrown fruit and vegetables with water before cooking or eating them;
- Rinse play equipment with water after the spraying is finished.
More information about DeltaGard 20EW can be found on the City of Brandon website at https://www.brandon.ca/images/pdf/MosquitoAbatement/Mosquito_DeltaGard_Factsheet.pdf.
The provision of a 90-metre buffer zone for residents who wish to be excluded from a fogging program is regulated by the Province of Manitoba and is a condition of the City of Brandon’s annual Pesticide Use Permit. As was previously announced by the City of Brandon this week, the deadline to register for such was 12 p.m. on Wednesday, July 15th; therefore, no additional buffer zone applications are being accepted at this time. A total of 33 approved buffer zones have been approved for this week’s fogging program.
Beyond this week’s fogging efforts, City of Brandon Parks & Recreation Services will double its larviciding efforts and will now have a total of four staff monitoring standing areas of water across the City and applying larvicide where necessary for the remainder of the summer season. Residents can also help reduce the impact of this year’s mosquito populations. Simple things like dumping out any containers of standing water, draining any eavestroughing, covering rain water collection containers; filling in any low-lying areas, or treating problem areas with biological larvicide can minimize the amount of mosquitoes. The annoyance of mosquitoes can also greatly be reduced by using repellants, wearing light-coloured clothing, limiting your time outside between the hours of dusk and dawn and using screened-in areas.
More information about the City of Brandon’s Mosquito Surveillance and Abatement Program can be found at https://www.brandon.ca/mosquito-abatement/mosquito-abatement-program.
(City of Brandon PSA)