Fire at major reptile breeder; suspected loss of 3000+ animals - Polidicks

[quote]LITTLETON, Colo. -- A 2-alarm fire killed thousands of snakes and other reptiles at a world class reptile breeding business owned by a former CU and NFL star player Monday morning. A fire department spokesperson says there were 3,000 nonvenomous snakes and other reptiles inside Pro Exotics in Littleton. Five other businesses were also damaged in the fire at 3911 Norwood Dr. which is east of Chatfield Reservoir. Pro Exotics is owned by Chad Brown, an All American linebacker from the University of Colorado who became an All Pro in the NFL during a 15-year career. "This is decades of work to produce the animals that we've been producing," Brown says. "This is a huge loss for our business. Pro Exotics has been in business for 20 years. "These are very special animals," Brown says. "There's a number of unique animals that were the only ones of their type on the planet." "With the heat inside I can't imagine those animals surviving," he says. "They're very tough animals but to survive that type of heat is very unlikely." "I could see the flames inside the facility, and certainly the smoke was really heavy" says Brown's partner, Robyn Markland. "This is going to be our life-changing moment, we'll figure things out and we'll move forward," he says. A large number of firefighters responded to what was first reported as an explosion and fire at the building off Santa Fe south of C470 at about 6 a.m. Video from SkyFOX showed flames and heavy black smoke coming out of the business. Crews say the fire moved into the attic. Firefighters were using heavy equipment to try to cut their way into the building. Crews were mopping up after the fire by 7:30 a.m. as investigators started looking into how the fire started.[/quote] [url]http://www.kdvr.com/news/kdvr-2alarm-fire-damages-business-in-littleton-20110926,0,1636147.story[/url] It's a major financial/time loss for them. They had a lot of snakes that were one of a kind colors. On the plus side of the things, other breeders have stepped up and offered to help replace missing animals out of their own breeding stock. [img]http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/uu105/Nektu/PE.jpg[/img] Owners are being let in now.

Well fuck. I don't know much about Littleton but to see one of a kind reptiles die is pretty unfortunate

[QUOTE=Glitch360;32489167]Well fuck. I don't know much about Littleton but to see one of a kind reptiles die is pretty unfortunate[/QUOTE] Especially considering that some of them were the result of a decade of breeding.

I hate it when anything from nature dies, either from Nature itself or by man's doing.

Take THAT, Reptilian overlords from space!:tinfoil: *cough* Sorry, I'm an utter douche for saying that, aren't I... Tragic indeed.

Wouldn't be surprised if an animal rights group was behind this.

Hey, don't worry, they could be still alive!

[QUOTE=Lebowski;32489503]Wouldn't be surprised if an animal rights group was behind this.[/QUOTE] ALF or PETA, probably.

[QUOTE=nmagain;32489511]Hey, don't worry, they could be still alive![/QUOTE] No, accept it! All those poor reptiles burned to ash :(

Unfortunately, doonbugie is probably right. Owners are being let in now. Updated OP with picture off their FB page.

[QUOTE=Raptor_Girl;32490027]Unfortunately, doonbugie is probably right. Owners are being let in now. Updated OP with picture off their FB page.[/QUOTE] BBQ

[url]http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_18978991[/url] They found a live snake, so there's still some hope.

[QUOTE=Strongbad;32489670]ALF or PETA, probably.[/QUOTE] ALF more likely than PETA really. I wouldn't be surprised. They're idiots. They try to release dolphins out of a dolphin conservation center that was built with the soul purpose of bringing unhealthy dolphins back to health. Bunch of fucking idiot extremists. [editline]26th September 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=doonbugie2;32490130]BBQ[/QUOTE] Bring out the A1.

They can survive the heat. Reptiles are very good at that.

[QUOTE=Aerkhan;32491699]They can survive the heat. Reptiles are very good at that.[/QUOTE] They can't survive a fire..Hell. Snakes can get neurological damage from being exposed to too high of temperatures for too long.

I hope it wasn't arson, you'd have to be a right cold blooded bastard to do this

I bet they're going to get a major insurance payout from this.

[QUOTE=purvisdavid1;32489264]I hate it when anything from nature dies, either from Nature itself or by man's doing.[/QUOTE] Man's doing IS nature...

Wait any specification on how the fire was caused? I suspect extremists...

D:

nuuuuuu....:(

[QUOTE=znk666;32492616]Wait any specification on how the fire was caused? I suspect extremists...[/QUOTE] Nothing yet. As of right now, they're picking through the remains. Overall, there's not many updates. They've found some eggs in incubators, but it's questionable on if they're any good due to the extreme heat, fire, and temperature drop. More than likely, there won't be very many surviving reptiles since the majority of snakes were kept in a rack system with plastic tubs. As it stands, the fire was hot enough to blow out the windows in the building which triggered the burglary alarm.

As a beardie owner this makes me sad :( the fuck where they doing with 2000 reptiles anyway.

[QUOTE=Raptor_Girl;32490174][url]http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_18978991[/url] They found a live snake, so there's still some hope.[/QUOTE] [quote][i]Markland said the company is a "high-end business" that ships snakes to breeders and collectors around the globe. He said the snakes are stored in plastic containers in racks. Most of the plastic containers melted in the intense fire, Brown said.[/i][/quote] Oh, bloody hell. That's just awful. :(

[QUOTE=skeligandrew;32493470]As a beardie owner this makes me sad :( the fuck where they doing with 2000 reptiles anyway.[/QUOTE] They're a big name breeder and were working on numerous projects.

[QUOTE=Aerkhan;32491699]They can survive the heat. Reptiles are very good at that.[/QUOTE] Actually that's the major downside to being Ectothermic, they can't handle extreme temperatures for a long time. As Endotherms we maintain a more or less constant body temperature regardless of how hot or cold it is outside our body. Ectotherms on the other hand are at the mercy of the temperature around them, if they get too hot they can't cool themselves down on their own they have to go find a cool place to lay or they die of heat exhaustion. Course the upside is you only have to eat like once a week.

[url]http://www.facebook.com/PEReptiles[/url] Owners have started posting pictures of everything. It's..Not pretty. I don't suggest looking if you're sensitive to the sight of dead things. It's bad.

I hate snakes......but this is sad :(

From owner: besides the boa, they found a baby ball python, 9 rat snakes and about a dozen eggs.