NewsContact Denver7

Actions

Stench from rat-infested house plagues Lakewood neighbors

City stepped in but relief is slow
Posted
and last updated

Editor's note: Contact7 seeks out audience tips and feedback to help people in need, resolve problems and hold the powerful accountable. If you know of a community need our call center could address, or have a story idea for our investigative team to pursue, please email us at contact7@thedenverchannel.com or call (720) 462-7777. Find more Contact7 stories here.

LAKEWOOD, Colo. -- Dead and dying rats are showing up in yards, driveways and doorsteps near a home where exterminators are battling an infestation.

On the 4th of July, residents should be outside enjoying the weather but the smell in this Lakewood neighborhood is unbearable. 

"When the rats come up to the doors you don’t go out in your backyard," said Marcy Boyle, who lives two doors down from the problem house. 

It's been nearly three weeks since another neighbor reached out to Contact7. She just bought the home next door and met her new rodent neighbors. 

The City of Lakewood stepped in after code enforcement officers, covered head to toe with hazmat gear, found extensive evidence of a rat infestation. 

An exterminator set traps on June 22 but relief has not been immediate. According to neighbors, it could take a couple of months to get the situation under control.

"They have really gone the extra mile and the City of Lakewood has really turned up the heat so that we can get this thing resolved even though we know it's still some time out," said Boyle.