Denton County Begins Aerial Spraying

After being delayed Thursday because of wind, aerial spraying will occur in Denton County on Friday and Saturday nights.

Dynamic Aviation, the company conducting the spraying, said spraying had begun in Aubrey, Krugerville, Crossroads and Oak Point shortly after 9 p.m.

Four planes will spray nearly 273,000 acres Friday and Saturday nights. Officials said they would work around outdoor events, such as high school football games, throughout the evening.

Thousands of fans packed the stands to watch Flower Mound take on Keller Central. The aerial spraying started during the game, but a Dynamic Aviation spokesman said the planes would stay a half mile from the Friday night lights.

Hilary Moore watched the game from a nearby indoor building with her 5-week-old baby. Her husband is a coach, and she comes to the games to support him.

But she said she also knows she has to protect her baby. The mother doesn't use DEET on the baby, so she takes other steps to keep mosquitoes away.

"I wrap him up in a blanket, like a really light blanket, or put the mesh over the car seat, " Moore said.

The towns and cities that will be included in the aerial spraying are: Aubrey, Copper Canyon, Corral City, Crossroads, Dish, Double Oak, Flower Mound, Hackberry, Hickory Creek, Justin, Krugerville, Krum, Lake Dallas, Lakewood Village, Lewisville, Lincoln Park, Northlake, Oak Point, Pilot Point, Ponder, Providence Village, Roanoke, Sanger, Shady Shores, Southlake, Trophy Club and Westlake.

Dynamic Aviation will live-tweet its aerial spraying of Denton County on its Twitter account @AerialMosquito.

While Thursday's scheduled spraying was delayed because of high wind speed -- which could carry the adulticide farther through the air than intended and out of the target spray zone -- a lack of wind slowed down the process on Friday.

Dynamic Aviation spokesman Caleb Stitely said a slight breeze is needed to help distribute the chemical. Certain parts of Denton County had little to no wind. Stitely said via social media that pilots would go back to the low-wind areas when the wind speeds picked up.

Stitely said the process would likely push the completion time back, meaning pilots might not complete the spraying until well past 2 a.m.

NBC 5's Sara Story contributed to this report.

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