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Peri Park, a beloved playground in Fairfax, an incorporated town in California’s ritzy Marin County, has been temporarily closed due to a “significant flea infestation” that was discovered by town maintenance crews after multiple complaints from parents and grandparents.
The pint-sized pests were found in the play area’s sand and wood chips and are believed to have been spread by a group of raccoons residing under a neighboring building.
While the maintenance crews are now in the process of exposing and sealing the area so the raccoons cannot come back, eradicating the current infestation isn’t entirely straightforward, due to the town ordinance in Fairfax that bans pesticide use on public property, including insecticides and similar substances.
Peri Park will remain closed for approximately two weeks as town crews work to manage the flea infestation. KTVU Per the San Francisco Chronicle, the ban includes a few emergency exceptions to this rule, which can potentially go into effect if the town council determines that the community’s health and safety have come under threat, and no reasonable alternative exists, by at least a two-thirds vote.
However, for the Peri Park fleas, town officials are determined to employ an approach that remains compliant with the pesticide-free ordinance.
Fairfax residents have largely supported eradicating the fleas in a non-toxic way. Cosmin Manci – stock.adobe.com As a non-toxic alternative, officials have taken to utilizing heat probes to increase the overall temperature of affected play areas, which will effectively kill off the pests.
“It looks like we’re going to use a company that steam cleans everything,” Fairfax Building Official Mark Lockaby told the outlet. “They’ll steam all the sand and chips, and that’s supposed to kill the fleas.”
Fairfax grandmother Debra Zibbit told ABC7News that the infestation — and the potential dangers the fleas could pose to children who play in the park — have been “really scary.”
“I’m afraid little children will go in there,” said Zibbit. “It’ll hurt their legs, they’re so tender.”
Fairfax residents have largely supported this non-toxic approach, with town resident and local grandmother Kathryn Smith telling KTVU Fox 2 that she agrees with how town officials are handling the incident.
“The kids are disappointed that the park is closed, but I think in the long run it’s a much better way to do it non-toxically and safely,” said Smith.
Lauren Elio, a fellow Fairfax resident supports the approach as a pet owner to “make sure the environment is safe for our pets and non-toxic.”
Local nanny Gina Paoli also suggested a change to the playground’s infrastructure itself, saying that replacing the existing ground cover may address the problem more thoroughly.
“Completely dig up all of the sand and all of the bark and all of the yucky things that are there and put in the rubber stuff that’s in a lot of parks,” Paoli added. “It’s cleaner. It’s safer.”
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