Woman, Her Dog Survive Vicious Bee Attack In Huntington Beach Park

HUNTINGTON BEACH (CBSLA.com) — A 70-year-old Ontario woman and her dog were recovering Monday from a bee attack in a Huntington Beach park.

Huntington Beach firefighters said they got a call about a bee attack at Harriett Wieder Regional Park on Seapoint Street shortly after 9 a.m. Saturday.

When they got to the scene, a woman was being stung by a large swarm of bees. Some of them were tangled in her hair.

"It was the most aggressive bee attack that I've been involved in," Capt. Bob Culhane of the Huntington Beach Fire Department said.

According to the fire department, while helping the victim, the firefighters were also stung.

"As soon as we all stepped out, the bees were all over us," Engineer Mike Farr said. "Looked like they were like this big, and they just wouldn't stop coming at you. I'm at the pump panel about 40 feet away and watching the whole thing, and I'm getting railed by bees in the head."

So they hosed the victim with foam to suppress the bees temporarily and restrict their flight.

"It was all we could do to get her to come from behind this fence about 50 feet towards us so we could start hosing her down. But as soon was we come out of the rig, they were all over us.

Still under attack themselves, the firefighters managed to get the victim to an ambulance while she still had more than 100 bees on her.

"She's literally covered in bees. So her hair looked like she had dreadlocks," Farr recalled.

The victim told CBS2's Stacey Butler that doctors had to pull bees out of her ears and nose, but she and her dog are expected to be all right.