Helicopters Begin Spraying Malathion : Medflies: Despite reassurance, people in Camarillo area cover cars and outdoor furniture. Schools close doors to nighttime activities.

Three helicopters carrying a payload of malathion and corn syrup lifted off from the Camarillo Airport on schedule Wednesday night and began aerial spraying of a 16-square-mile area to combat the first Medfly infestation in county history.

With a light west wind behind them, the three helicopters and a fourth observation craft formed a low straight line before setting off on a three- to four-hour expedition spraying the pesticide over the homes of 32,400 residents.

In the hours of anticipation and planning that preceded the takeoff, schools closed their doors to nighttime activities and residents covered their cars and outdoor furniture, snatching up free plastic covers faster than growers’ groups could hand them out.

Shortly after takeoff just before 9 p.m., the helicopters, followed by a half-dozen news media helicopters, passed several hundred feet over Hilltop Lane, the easternmost edge of Camarillo’s eradication zone.

“I can hear them, but I am not going out to look, “said David Coster, a resident of Hilltop Lane since 1987. “This is the first time we’ve been sprayed for anything.”

In Leisure Village a few minutes later, Vernon Kiep, 75, stood in his driveway in his slippers and robe watching the helicopters fly overhead. “We went through this down in Glendale when we lived there,” he said. “I think it has to be done.”

His wife, Gilda, was equally calm about the pesticide spraying. “I used to use malathion myself to spray my trees,” she said.

Streets throughout the community were empty as the helicopters flew back and forth over the neighborhood. The mixture left a sweet smell in the air and clear visible droplets on vehicles. Few cars were parked on the street and most of those were covered with plastic.

Mary Giesler, 74, left her gray Hyundai unprotected. “I figure I’m going to have so many problems that that little car’s not going to matter that much,” she said.

“I don’t think it’s the best thing in the world but I don’t think it can be avoided,” she said. “The only thing I’m sorry about is that it’s going to last six months. That means a lot of work for me.”

At Harley’s Camarillo Bowl on the edge of the spray zone the crash of bowling pins drowned out the sound of helicopters overhead. Wednesday nights are usually busy, said Chris Fazio, but the spraying kept people home. Only three of 20 lanes were taken.

“It’s dead,” Fazio said.

The spraying Wednesday was the first of 10 to 12 such aerial sprayings scheduled over the next six months to combat the infestation and save the county’s lucrative citrus sales to Japan. It began less than two weeks after the first of 63 Medflies were discovered in an orchard on the grounds of St. John’s Seminary in eastern Camarillo.

At the airport, about a dozen demonstrators turned out to protest the spraying. Two state police officers stood by to ensure there were no interruptions. Among the protesters were Terri Gaishia and her 13-year-old son, Ryan, who stood silently watching.

“We are here to make a point,” she said, an anti-spraying sign pinned to her lapel. “I find this a gross violation of our rights. They make this decision without consulting anybody.”

Throughout the day, anxious parents tried to determine how best to protect their children from exposure to the pesticide the morning after.

Sharon Wilcox, a Santa Rosa Valley resident, said she was upset to find that park and recreation officials did not plan to cover playground equipment at nearby Heritage Park, where her sons play.

“The kids play and then they put their hands in their mouths,” she said. After she appealed to the Pleasant Valley Parks and Recreation District, district officials agreed to provide plastic tarps to cover the equipment if she would be responsible for the work.

“I got some neighbors together and we covered it,” she said. “But it really disturbs me. I don’t feel the kids were taken into consideration.”

She and other parents also complained that the Pleasant Valley School District did not plan to cover outdoor facilities, but intended only to wash off outdoor drinking fountains, playground equipment and lunch tables.

But school district officials, on advice from the county superintendent of schools and Public Health Officer Dr. Gary Feldman, said the precautions were sufficient to protect children.

“My utmost concern is the health and safety of students and staff in the affected areas,” said Supt. Charles Weis.

California Department of Health Services officials have said that at the concentrations used--1.2 ounces of malathion to 10.8 ounces of corn syrup bait per acre--there are “no significant health effects” for most people. But state and local health officials have warned that people who have respiratory problems such as asthma, as well as the very young and the very old could be more susceptible to adverse effects from even minimal exposure.

Feldman said anyone who believes he or she is experiencing adverse effects from malathion exposure should call the Cooperative Medfly Project hot line at 1-800-491-1899.

Hot line officials said they had received more than 1,000 calls by Wednesday evening. They said they will be answering the phones again from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. today.

Most of the questions centered on the effects of malathion, officials said. But from today on, if callers are reporting health problems, hot line staff will determine symptoms, length of exposure and whether the caller has seen or should see a doctor.

That information will be forwarded to the state Department of Health Services and reviewed by a toxicologist. The toxicologist will compile the data as part of a statistical health study, he said.

To educate local physicians, Feldman mailed 1,500 information packets to Ventura County doctors Friday, including forms for reporting any cases of suspected pesticide poisoning.

During the past 10 days, Feldman said, his office has received 20 to 30 phone calls a day from concerned residents and a few physicians. Several pediatricians in the Camarillo area called to ask about the effects of malathion on children.

During the series of aerial sprayings in Corona that began in February and concluded in May, about 250 residents reported suffering skin rashes, allergic reactions and other symptoms and two doctors submitted Pesticide Illness Report forms.

Feldman offered reassurances again Wednesday that the amount of malathion being dispersed per acre is too small to pose a significant health risk to the general public or to pets.

“Dose is everything,” he said.

But the dose proved too much for some in Riverside County, Corona resident Valerie Dufresne told a group of about 15 opponents of the spraying gathered at an east Camarillo home on Wednesday.

Because she already had health problems, she left town during each of the spraying episodes. But she returned two to four days later, she said.

“I was out digging in the soil 10 days after the spraying because I used to have an organic garden,” said Dufresne, who was hooked up Wednesday to an oxygen tank she held at her side. Later that day, she said, she developed severe leg pain, nausea and experienced confusion and difficulty speaking.

“I never had to use oxygen before that,” she said. “I am here to advise the disabled of the community . . . those of us with immune system problems, respiratory problems, pregnant women, children, are all at risk from malathion.”

Camarillo residents Eric and Beth Fraley, at whose home the opponents gathered, said they planned to pack up and leave their rented house.

“We’re conservative Republicans,” Beth Fraley said. “I can’t believe Pete Wilson is letting this happen to us.” Gov. Wilson’s approval was needed before aerial spraying of malathion over cities and homes could begin.

Joanna M. Miller is a staff writer and Julie Fields is a correspondent. Also contributing to this story were staff writer Kenneth R. Weiss and correspondents Maia Davis, Matthew Mosk, Ira E. Stoll and Scott Hadly.