Demolition crews attempting to tear down an abandoned house Monday morning were the targets of an angry bee attack.

Witnesses said thousands of bees swarmed out of the rubble of the home and attacked a worker, neighbors and the fire department's captain.

"I got stung in the head," Capt. Jerry Kuczynski, the Broward County Fire Rescue Sheriff, said. "It happened while we were putting on our gear. It certainly wasn't a good thing."

Norman Cruz, a worker with the demolition crew, was the first to feel the bees' attack.
He was using a backhoe to demolish the abandoned home off Davie Road in central Broward County.

Cruz said the backhoe shovel dug into the home and that's when the bees started attacking.

"When we started demolishing the house that's when the bees came out," Cruz said through a Spanish translator. "They came after me and I had to take off running."
That's when an onlooker saw Cruz and started spraying him down with water to knock off the bees.

Shortly after, firefighters arrived on the scene and started spraying foam on the bees.

Firefighters wanted to make sure they killed all the bees, so they instructed Cruz to get back on the backhoe and lift up some of the debris so they could get a clear shot at the hive.

"That's when the bees got inside the backhoe again," Cruz said. "And then they sprayed me with the foam."

Officials said part of the reason Cruz was attacked is because the operator's compartment on the backhoe was missing a window and gave the swarming bees easy access.

After about an hour's break, Cruz and the firefighters resumed their fight against the bees. Cruz was given a plastic sheet to cover the window hole and firefighters finished spraying the beehive with foam.

Kuczynski said battling bees is tough.

"You don't see them, that's the problem," Kuczynski said. "You can see fire and you can see electric lines, but you can't see bees until they're on you. There is nothing you can do."