Modesto firefighters feel the sting while battling a wildfire and bees

In triple-digit heat, firefighters in one California city had to battle flames — and bees

Bees swarmed firefighters in Stanislaus County after they extinguished a fire that engulfed dozens of bee boxes.

By Jireh DengStaff Writer

Sept. 9, 2024 11:43 AM PT

Firefighters in Stanislaus County found themselves battling more than just a wildfire when bees descended on the crew dispatched to battle the morning blaze.

The Modesto Fire Department and Cal Fire responded to an incident on a private property where dozens of beehive boxes next to Sonora Road had caught fire Thursday morning as triple-digit heat settled over the region. The fire was believed to have been ignited by a faulty bee smoker, according to Jim Black, a battalion chief with the Modesto Fire Department.

The winds pushed the fire to ignite 1.6 acres of nearby grass, Black said, and the road was briefly blocked as firefighters extinguished the fire in 15 minutes. The firefighters weren’t able to save any of the bee boxes, and it’s unclear how many bees died, Black said.

But as the flames and smoke died down, the skies filled with the buzz of angry, displaced bees.

“When the fire got put out, all the bees came back, and they were swarming overhead. Several firefighters got stung,” Black said. “Nobody had to go to the hospital and nobody was allergic.”

As the firefighters drove back to the station, hundreds of hitchhikers rode along as well: A swarm of bees latched on to the windshield and the doors of the firetruck.

“We had to kind of spray them off with water to get them to come off the engine,” Black said. It wasn’t clear if the hive was simply following a queen bee that had attached herself to the engine, he added.

Firefighters are trained to battle fires, not angry bees, Black said.

“In the 21 years I’ve been a firefighter out there, that’s the first time I’ve ever seen that,” he said.