EXOTIC EMERGENCY
Fire hits home of strange pets
Two people were treated for burns and smoke inhalation Tuesday after a kitchen fire that killed two parrots, one corn snake and a rat.
A dog and a bearded dragon were treated for smoke inhalation and a giant African bullfrog was badly shaken.
The fire in the pet-filled house at 90 Brockington Crescent broke out around 1:15 p.m. Daniel Gordon, a boarder who lived with the family in the house, said the fire started on the stove.
“One second you’re cooking lunch, and the next second you look and the grease is burning,” said Gordon, whose face was still smeared with ash as he stood outside with other residents caring for a menagerie of frantic animals.
Homeowner Stacy Brickman lives in the house with her husband, son, daughter, daughter’s boyfriend and Gordon, the boarder.
She and her husband take in rescue animals that are injured or are no longer wanted by their owners, she said.
The family’s full list of animals included three dogs, a cat, two bearded dragons, three corn snakes, four parrots, two rats and the giant African bullfrog.
One of the parrots, a white moluccan cockatoo named Coby, watched the frenzy from a cage, alternating with a folksy “How ya’ doin’?’” and an ear-piercing squeal.
“That’s our other smoke detector,” Gordon joked.
“Watch out, she doesn’t like men,” Brickman warned when a reporter got too close, adding that the parrot had “some behaviour issues.”
The two injured people, Brickman’s 19-year-old daughter and the daughter’s 21-year-old boyfriend, were hurt while trying to control the fire.
They were taken to hospital and were listed in stable condition.
Firefighters were quickly able to bring the fire under control, but District Chief Ross Saunders said the kitchen was badly damaged and estimated the cost of the fire at $100,000 to the structure alone.
Firefighters used a special oxygen mask designed for pets to treat the dog and the lizard.
Answering a fire call at a house with so many animals is rare, but not unheard of, he said.
“It was quite a pet shop in there,” Saunders said.