HAMPSTEAD — The Hampstead Police Department was invaded yesterday.
"We were almost taken over," Lt. John Fraser said, only half kidding. "It is a termite invasion."
Dispatcher Anne Beaudoin didn't see any humor in the situation. She said she had been swatting at an occasional flying thing during the morning, and then suddenly, swarms of flying bugs exploded from the false ceiling above the dispatch office.
Building and Grounds Department head Steve Harms said when he arrived to help with vanquishing the invaders, "The dispatch office was pretty gross."
Beaudoin said she was enveloped by the swarming termites. She called Harms and Terminix and got out from under the flying bugs.
Terminix inspector Jeff Pellerin responded to Beaudoin's emergency call and quickly located the site of the colony's original entrance. He said you get swarmers when a colony has been in the ground under a building for at least five years, has simply grown too large for the accommodations and breaks out with the warm weather.
"Great," Detective Sgt. Ken Owen said. "They're re-colonizing now."
Pellerin showed the officers the stump next to the edge of the police station that was full of termites, and was likely the original entrance of the colony.
He said he would inject a chemical into the ground to kill off the colony, preventing further damage. But he said the colony had already done significant damage to a lower section of one of the station's front doors, and that would have to be fixed.
As Pellerin worked to take care of the termite problem, all of the officers waited outside the police station. Only Beaudoin remained inside to man the dispatch center. Police said they are still waiting for an estimate of how much it cost to get rid of the termites.
