Around 9:20 p.m. Friday, the Turlock Police Department received several 911 calls reporting that two suspicious aircrafts were flying at low levels over the city.
Citizens also reported that the aircrafts appeared to be spraying some type of mist over the city, said the Turlock Police Department.
Turlock Police has reported that the suspicious aircrafts flying over Turlock on Friday night were spraying for mosquito abatement.
It was determined that the Turlock Mosquito Abatement District was conducting scheduled ground spraying to lower the adult mosquito population in the area.
According to the Turlock Mosquito Abatement District website, a public notice was posted on July 30 advising the Turlock community of the planned ground spraying date for July 31. The target areas were listed specifically for northeast Turlock.
The Turlock Mosquito Abatement District advises that residents stay indoors during spraying to avoid direct exposure to the spray and close their windows to prevent spray from entering their home.
The material that is used is pyrethrin the same material that people use in their homes to spray mosquitoes indoors, according to the Turlock Mosquito Abatement District.
For more information on the future dates, times, and target locations of ground spraying for the Turlock community, call the Turlock Mosquito Abatement District at 209-634-1234 or visit TurlockMosquito.org.
Government agencies like the mosquito district and stanislaus county should notify the news companies so we all can know what is going on.
I had my windows open last night and this says people should keep them shut when they’re spraying the poison. Thanks a lot government for not telling the people that live here that you’re spaying poison into their homes.
This is very irresponsible.
The spraying should have been published like any other advertisement!!! I was worried about the planes flying low!!
I can’t believe this I was outside in front of my house last night. I had seen the planes fly right over my head the first thing I thought was wow this is wierd they are flying real low and kept circling the area. And the planes where very small and quiet. Now I know they where spraying poison all over me like really stanislaus county wtf are you thinking obviously your not thinking thank you for notifying us supposingly the day before you spray on a website no one knows about . This sounds like some wierd government project they didn’t want you to know about. I’m probly going to grow a 3rd arm or die in a couple months now thanks lol.
Does anyone at the Stanislais county know how to send a press release to the newspapers?
The Turlock police should charge the angency for handling all the 9-1-1 calls and having to do their job of notifying the public for them.
The mosquito district sent letters out like the article said. The public notice was posted on their website too. Educate yourself and stop blaming all of us working for the government.
I was working in garage and heard the aircraft go by they were carful and well excuted spraying bravo to the pilots. . down side. My two teenage boys were skate boarding on their way home from friends house and came into the house saying thier eyes burned. They looked up to see the plane spraying stuff on them. We called poison control and had to flush their eyes for 15m with water. No real damage I suspose. I think the county could have excersized a better method of public announcement, maybe the Amber alert or something to warn us better. Who really visits the mosquito abatement website on a daily basis.
This is unfortunate that there wasn’t more information for those who live in the area especially where concentrated abatement was targeted. I understand the need and appreciate the efforts made by our city and county however, I had children of various ages and family outside the entire time/night. They had an outdoor sleep over in a tent and were exposed. They actually continued to watch the planes fly right over us for a good length of time. I hope that in the future there can be something more done to inform the community.
Another half ass job done by a half ass outfit. You wouldn’t need a plane if you’d get off your lazy butt, and take care of the mosquitoes on foot.
All the notifications said they would be spraying from 300am-530am. By choosing instead to start spraying around 8pm on a Friday night they exposed a much higher number of people to this poison. They should have mailed notices to everyone.
I had a very poor first impression of this article with the word “aircrafts” in the heading and repeated multiple times in the body of the article. Poor quality writing and editing. Takes away any credibility of the article and paper.
Sure they say that but it’s the GOVERNMENT spraying this chemical. COINCIDENCE that just recently there have been a lot of HOMELESS attacks? This is connected people don’t be so blind. The spray is to control the homeless and mexicans to keep them under government control.
Well I hope it works. LMFAO
Unless i missed it, I didn’t get a letter, and I don’t regularly go visit the mosquito abatement website. Perhaps a good way to communicate this is in the city water bill. We all get one of those. I was outside when they flew over and thought a plane was going to crash right in my neighborhood.
Relax everyone, its not a ufo. And where not under attack, its just a plane. No need to get all paranoid. ,
The article does NOT say they sent letters out. It says they posted it on the website. However, what they posted on the website was a notice of ground spraying by trucks on the 30th, not aerial spraying on the 31st. An acquaintance has spent a long time back and forth with Mosquito Abatement and other local agencies on the phone and has found out, among other things, that: 1) our local Mosquito Abatement contracted the planes, but didn’t know when or where they were going to spray – even while it was happening – and notified no one; 2) the planes did not use the low-toxicity pyrethrins/pyrethroids mentioned in the article (only the ground spraying used those); 3) the planes sprayed Dibrom, a pesticide with at least 2 chemicals on the CA Prop 65 carcinogen warning list. If you or your children were exposed, you can call the Ag Department for Stanislaus County at (209)525-4730 to report any symptoms.
When Dibrom is being sprayed, the protocol is to be indoors with windows closed and the air conditioning off, so that no direct contact is made between people/pets and the pesticide. Without advance notification, this is impossible to expect. You can write the Turlock Mosquito Abatement District and the City Council to request they improve notification standards here:
Turlock Mosquito Abatement
Board of Trustees
4412 N. Washington Road
Turlock, CA 95380
Turlock City Council
156 S. Broadway
Suite # 230
Turlock, CA 95380