PASADENA (CNS) - A swarm of bees in Pasadena today sent five people to a hospital, including two firefighters and a police officer.
Officials received a call about a person with a bee sting, and when authorities arrived at the scene, the “whole block was covered with an influx of bees,” according to Lisa Derderian, Pasadena's public information officer.
The first injured firefighter sustained multiple bee stings while treating a patient at the scene.
Derderian said the city has seen bee swarms before but “nothing to this magnitude.” According to a broadcast report, seven people were injured.
A professional beekeeper was sent to the scene to safely remove the hive from the building, which is on Colorado Boulevard between South Bonnie and North Sierra Bonita avenues, according to Derderian.
Colorado Boulevard near the scene remained closed for a few hours, but reopened shortly before 6:45 p.m., according to the Pasadena Police Department.