Final decontamination begins at Ebola apartment site
DALLAS — As children played soccer and families visited with each other outside, there was some semblance of normalcy returning Sunday in the North Dallas neighborhood where Ebola patient Thomas Duncan had been living, even as the abnormal happened just yards away.
"We've been told we won't be involved in anything bigger than this for a long time," said Brad Smith, vice president of Cleaning Guys, a Fort Worth-based environmental hazardous materials cleanup business.
Smith's crew suited up in astronaut-looking garb Sunday as they began the second and final decontamination phase at that apartment in The Ivy complex.
"Full face shields, full respirators, hoods, booties, gloves — we're triple-gloving," Smith explained. "Anything that's in there, it'll be completely stripped out — from the carpet, to the curtains, to all belongings."
The first phase of the cleanup took 11 hours on Friday. The phase that started Sunday will take much longer, Smith said, stretching into Monday morning because it's much more comprehensive.
Officials did not immediately say Sunday how much this particular phase is costing taxpayers, or what will happen to the apartment once it's been decontaminated. The belongings will eventually be disposed of, but Smith couldn't say where.
Despite reassurances from health officials, neighbor Hector Catalan says it's hard to remain calm as he watches this all unfold out his front window.
"From all the places, I never thought it would be right here — right in front of where I live," he said.
For Smith, there are some nerves involved with something of this magnitude; his is the first crew in America to clean up an Ebola site.
"It adds some pressure," he said. "We want to make sure we're doing everything right, because we are in the eye of the media and everyone's watching."
But he feels he's doing his part to keep people safe in Texas — and beyond.