'They get in my mouth': Fruit fly invasion tormenting people in NC town

Denise Faison keeps a plastic bag over her coffee pot and stores her food in tightly-zipped bags to avoid attracting additional fruit flies that have invaded her home.

Faison spends time everyday mixing together vinegar and dish soap and then pours the potion in small plastic cups, secures the opening with plastic wrap and pokes a small hole in the top with her nail.

“This is a trap,” explained Faison, who proceeded to place the cup on her kitchen window sill next to an identical trap filled with hundreds of flies.

“It’s just ridiculous that we have to live like this,” she said. “It’s terrible. You can’t cook in the house unless you are constantly fanning. Everything is covered up in the house.”

About a dozen homes are in close range to the Farm Fresh Produce produce warehouse at the intersection of Russell Street and Pugh Road in Clinton, where flies swarm around towering crates of sweet potatoes.

Faison, who has lived on Russell Street for 20 years, said the problem began in October 2021.

The problem subsided last winter but the flies returned in February 2022 and got even worse in the summer heat and humidity.

The flies have made life miserable for Natalie Flores and her six kids, including a one-year-old baby. Flores routinely cleans off dead flies from her child’s baby cups.

“I hate it when they get in my mouth,” Flores said. “I am tired of this and tired of crying every night.”

Some of the impacted homes are within Clinton city limits. Others are not.

J.P. Duncan inherited the issue as Clinton’s new city manager. He said even though the Farm Fresh Produce property is within the city’s planning jurisdiction, the parcel is outside city limits, and that prevents the police department from enforcing the nuisance ordinance.

“I can tell you with absolute certainty that I would not want to live in those conditions,” Duncan said.

Duncan said the Clinton City Council is aware of the problem, but no formal action items have come before the council.

“It would have to be a civil suit levied against the property owner due to a nuisance and the council is weighing that option at this point,” Duncan said. “The ideal solution would be for the property owner to find a way to get rid of the flies through pesticides and the like.”

Sampson County officials say because the warehouse falls within Clinton’s extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) that they have authority to enforce city ordinances.

“We have been recently made aware of the situation and we are exploring what options, if any, the county may have,” said County Attorney Joel Starling.

Farm Fresh Produce said it has only been notified of “one neighbor” with issues and said its third-party pest control reports “have not stated any evidence of fruit flies.”

“City representatives have visited our operation…We provided them with our third-party monthly pest control reports and with our company pest prevention procedures. All was satisfactory and we were never in any violation,” said Steven Ceccarelli, CEO and president of Farm Fresh Produce.

Ceccarelli said his company has been in operation for 10 years and this is the first complaint from the community.

The recent below-freezing temperatures have killed many of the fruit flies; however, Faison said her traps are still catching flies.

Neighbors say they are hoping for a long-term solution.

“Somebody needs to take responsibility,” Faison said. “We need help ASAP.”