Rat-Infested Home Demolished In Beaver Co.
PULASKI TOWNSHIP (KDKA) - Crews demolished a rat-infested home in Beaver County this morning.
The house, located in Pulaski Township, has been vacant since August.
Neighbors complained last week about the infestation.
"I am scared to death of them," said Mary Juillerat, a neighbor. "Everything that moves in my house, I feel that it's a rat. I can't sleep; I haven't slept for days."
Pulaski Township Building Code Inspector John Clay said that when he went inside the home over the weekend he found hundreds of rats, filth, and dog and rat fecal matter.
"There were some rooms that I could not access because the material was chest high," said Clay.
An exterminator placed rat poison in and around the home prior to today's demolition.
Clay went back inside the home today for another inspection before it was torn down.
"We could hear them in there, but it wasn't like when I was in there on Saturday where they were literally running all over the place, many dead ones," he said. "I think we got the vast majority of them, so I think we're ready to go."
Crews had neighbors within a one-block area of the home evacuate as a precaution while the demolition took place. Firefighters doused the home in water to keep the dust to a minimum.
It took about an hour to tear it down.
Officials say the house is owned by Debi Adams, a Beaver Falls High School teacher.
She told Clay that with her husband's illness and financial problems she left the house over the summer and everything inside including several dogs.
Since Adams agreed to have the house torn down, she will not be fined by the township. The dogs she left behind were turned over to the Beaver County Humane Society.
Stay with KDKA for the latest details.
