Tenants Start Fire Trying to Burn Bed Bugs

In a battle of man versus insect, it was the house that lost.

Two tenants in Indianapolis made the news this week when they caught the rental property on fire.

The pair had been in the rental property only about three months when they say they spotted bed bugs on the furniture — three couches and two chairs. So rather than contacting the landlord or a pest control company, they moved the upholstered furniture outside and set it on fire.

Because the furnishings were only a few feet away from the structure, the blaze quickly spread to the house. The tenants tried to contain the fire using a garden hose, but that wasn’t enough. Firefighters who contained the blaze estimate that this antic cost the landlord about $15,000, according to the report.

Sadly, the fire likely did very little to eradicate the bed bugs still living in the house.

Oddly enough, this isn’t the only time a tenant has started a fire over bed bugs. Last fall, a Michigan man set his apartment on fire by chasing the bugs around his bedroom with a cigarette lighter.

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