Hot night of iguana
Hardy reptile survives huge Qns. apt. inferno
BBC, the fire-surviving iguana, wasn’t going bananas Saturday — he just sat, too traumatized by all the commotion the night before to take even one bite of his favorite fruit.
The 4-foot-long pet lizard hasn’t eaten anything since a firefighter pulled him from the ruins of the Astoria, Queens, apartment Friday evening.
A picture of the green reptile in the arms of a soot-covered firefighter from Ladder Company 115 captured hearts.
But the firefighter, who modestly declined to be identified, claims BBC is the one who deserves the praise — for living through a massive blaze that took 60 firefighters over an hour to put out.
Flames broke out just before 6 p.m. on the top floor of a three-story building at 23rd Street and 25th Road.
Crews were tearing down ceilings after the fire when one firefighter noticed an iguana “chillin’ on a bookshelf,” an FDNY spokesman explained.
Photographer Chris Clarke recognized that he was witnessing a rare moment when the firefighter appeared.
“When he came out of the building, he had this big smile on his face as he was talking to the other firefighters,” Clarke said. “At first I thought he was carrying a cat. Then I realized that’s not a cat — it’s huge!”
Six-year-old BBC was whisked away and handed off to a friend of his owner, Farouk Sakr, who is away in Florida.
Sakr’s first thoughts when he heard about the fire were for his pet, who he bought as a first-anniversary gift for his wife on a trip to Atlantic City.
“Thank God” were the words that came to his mind, Sakr, 49, told The Post. “That was the only thing I was looking forward to finding out. It was my whole concern.”