Yucaipa neighborhood swarmed by flies

YUCAIPA, Calif. (KABC) -- A Yucaipa neighborhood plagued with flies is looking to San Bernardino County officials for help.

"Tons of flies. An enormous amount of flies. It's just filthy. It's disgusting," Yucaipa resident Dena Hall exclaimed.

Hall and her neighbors said their entire community has been swarmed with flies and they believe a collection of three chicken farms nearby are to blame.

"There are huge mounds of manure that I have seen there sit for two weeks," Yucaipa resident Linda Bedford said.

The chicken ranches have been running for decades, way before the neighboring communities were built.

Residents said the flies used to be manageable, but that over the last couple years, some of the ranchers have been slow to remove chicken waste, which is providing perfect breeding conditions for the flies.

ABC7 spoke to the chief financial officer of the Hidden Villa Ranch over the phone and he said his facility removes its chicken waste every day and has offered to help the other ranches do the same.

We were unable to reach the owners of the other two facilities.

San Bernardino County Supervisor James Ramos said Mosquito and Vector Control has been monitoring the chicken ranches and was investigating their pest-control efforts.

"There is something going on and we are looking into it," Ramos stated.

But Ramos said that the county has little say over zoning regulations and fines.

"The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors, we really look at the unincorporated areas. So this is within the sphere of influence of city of Yucaipa," Ramos explained.

Frustrated residents claimed the city has ignored the fly problem and said they hoped officials would help to deem the area a "no-fly" zone.