PALM BEACH POST (Florida) 18 September 07 Business not faulted in fire that killed dozens of snakes (Kevin Deutsch)

Delray Beach: As many as 45 snakes were killed when an electrical fire swept through a snake seller's warehouse Sunday, causing thousands of dollars in losses.

The Retic Ranch, which specializes in the sale of large constrictors, had about 90 snakes in a building in the 340 block of Northeast Fourth Street, where an electrical short started a fire that left as many as half of the reptiles dead.

"I have some losses," said Greg Bryant, president of The Retic Ranch. "The rest are safe."

Snakes on the business' Web site range in price from $250 to $1,800.

Bryant has a venomous reptile license and also is properly licensed to exhibit and sell snakes, said Dani Moschella, spokeswoman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The agency sent an investigator to check on the snakes Monday and found no signs of wrongdoing by Bryant.

When Delray Beach Fire-Rescue, responding to a 1:31 a.m. call, forced the door open, firefighters found dozens of boa constrictors and pythons - some on the loose.

Others were in metal, glass and plastic cages that had started melting, Battalion Chief Russ Accardi said.

The boas were about 8 feet long and the pythons 12 to 17 feet, he said.

The biggest snakes weighed about 200 pounds.

Nobody was injured, but one of the firefighters came across a large snake, grabbed it to get it out of the way and wound up wearing it around his neck.

A message on The Retic Ranch Web site said the business would not comment on the fire because "we refuse to participate in sensationalizing any 'snake story.'"

"We will now press on and move on, doing what we love," the message said.



http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/south/epaper/2007/09/18/s3b_dbsnakes_0918.html?cxtype=rss&cxsvc=7&cxcat=75

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