Sacred Heart Catholic Church prepares for fumigation

A sun yellow tarp will cloak Sacred Heart Catholic Church in downtown Brownsville during the following days as pest control employees work to control its termite problem.

Church officials held services Sunday night but have closed the building to allow for the fumigation procedure until at least next week.

Esparza Pest Control employees began wrapping the tent around the structure in preparation for fumigation last Tuesday, after church officials realized the bugs were eating away the inside of the building, Father Michael Amess said.

"We just realized how serious it was," he said.

A large amount of drywood termites had spread throughout the inside of the church, particularly within its two massive front towers, said Rick Balderas, who is licensed in structural fumigation and serves as the office manager for Esparza Pest Control.

Drywood termites are widespread problem throughout Brownsville, especially in the city’s downtown area, Balderas said. It takes many years for the insects to damage the wood of a structure causing its collapse, but the possibility is always there — so it is better to catch the problem early.

The canopy around the structure is meant to keep in the fumigation gas, and the church should be completely covered within the next few days, said Balderas, who on Monday was working against the wind alongside other pest control employees to put up the tent.

Employees will then pump into the canopy poisonous Vikane gas, which will seep in through all the cracks and crevices of the building and kill the insects, Balderas said.

Churchgoers should stay away from the structure until next week.

"This stuff will kill you if you inhale it," Balderas said. "It is deadly."