A Michigan neighborhood shut down trick or treating festivities this year after a vacant house on the block became overrun with cockroaches, sparking fears the vermin would travel home with revelers.
“It doesn’t matter whether you’re a tidy person, a hoarder, roaches come in all these houses,” Becky Wallace, who lives near the infested home in Wyandotte, told Click on Detroit. The city is located about 11 miles south of Detroit.
City officials decided to cancel trick-or-treating near 20th Street, closing sidewalks in the area on Monday due to the infestation. Officials fear people could step on cockroach eggs and spread them throughout the area.
“It is in the best interest of citizens to close 20th street and the sidewalks from Eureka to Grove on Monday, October 31, 2022, from 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm,” the city wrote in a letter to residents of shutting down sidewalks on Monday in anticipation of Halloween, WXYZ reported.
“Barricades and signage will be placed on the street and at sidewalks at Grove, the intersections of Orchard and Pine, and at Eureka, closing the street and sidewalk to vehicles and pedestrians. It is recommended that Trick ‘r Treating be discouraged in this area,” the letter continued.
Walking on the street could help kill the cockroaches, but their eggs still could spread and survive, City Council member Todd Hanna noted.
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“Remember when the kids were little, and they drag their costumes and they’re dragging their bags, well from my understanding, you can step on roach eggs and you can take them home, you can spread them. I would not want them to be taken home to mom and dad’s house,” Wallace added to Click on Detroit.
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City engineer Greg Mayhew said the ban on the spooky holiday tradition will prevent “further roach migration.”
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A garbage man was the first to spot the infestation, according to local officials. Wallace recounted that trash collectors “picked up one or two bags and said, ‘whoa.’”
“They contacted the police and they were right out,” Wallace said.
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The city is currently trying to kill the roaches, but “it will take some time,” according to Mayhew.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.