THE TIMES (Trenton, New Jersey) 21 April 05 Blaze has hiss-storic footnote

He is a survivor.

He lived through hours of searing flames that ravaged a warehouse as long as a football field and would have snuffed out a mammal in minutes.

He then faced the deluge of water that firefighters poured on the burning building for more than 24 hours.

Finally, he defied the large construction crane that yesterday morning picked apart the building like a dinosaur, displacing enormous chunks of rubble with the ease of a child playing with blocks.

Sunny, an 18-foot albino Burmese python and Accurate Document Destruction Inc. mascot, emerged Phoenix-like from beneath the soaking wet rubble of the building yesterday after hissing at firefighters all morning long.

His tank was broken, but Sunny was unbowed.

As two burly firemen carried him out, his orange-white mosaic of scales glistened in the noontime sun, amazing police investigators, firefighters and a bevy of other onlookers, including his company caregivers.

The surviving reptile is now a symbol for a company that is in the business of destruction.

"The building may be gone, but Sunny - and Accurate - survived," said general manager Stephen Mandarano.

The snake was the topic of conversation all morning as plant employees weighed Sunny's chances. Bob Antonakos, who works in Accurate's accounting department, said his son is a big Sunny fan and was in tears when he learned of the fire Tuesday morning.

"The first thing he asked me when I was leaving to head to the fire was, `Is Sunny going to be OK?' " Antonakos said. "I told him, `Buddy, we'll have to see.' "

Antonakos said before his son went to bed Tuesday he included Sunny in his nightly prayers, asking God to save the giant snake.

"Now I can tell him Sunny is alive," Antonakos said as the snake was hustled into a Hamilton Animal Control truck.

The presence of the snake at the site came as a surprise to many firefighters and investigators, some of whom were none too happy when they were told to watch out for the reptile.

Hamilton Detective Bob Diszler, part of the investigatory team, said the snake reared its head a few times and hissed.

He said it reminded him of the first "Star Wars" movie when Han Solo, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia were trapped in a trash compactor up to their knees in watery debris and a menacing snake kept popping up through the muck.

"That's what I thought was going to happen," he said with a chuckle. "It kept hissing."

When investigators spotted Sunny, they immediately backed away from the agitated python and called animal control personnel.

When Hamilton Animal Control Officer John Rose Jr. arrived, he immediately went to work freeing the reptile from some rubble that had piled around it.

Rose first approached the snake with a small rope, but returned to his truck for a larger one, presumably after seeing the size of the massive python.

"We had to remove a door that the snake had wrapped around to get him out," Rose said. "The main thing is you don't want him wrapping around you."

Sunny was transferred from Rose's truck to a waiting van complete with a brand new aquarium for him to call home. Sunny's owners said the snake, which they have had since it was 4 inches long, will continue to act as the mascot for the company when it reopens at its new location.

Accurate's owners assured concerned onlookers that Sunny would continue to get his normal meal of two rats per week. After surviving the blaze, they said, he may even get a third.

Burmese pythons are popular as pets, and the albino version is not rare and can be bred that way for snake lovers.

They originate in Burma, Vietnam and Thailand, but most in North America are bred in captivity and have become basically a domestic species.

They like to eat mice, rats, rabbits, chickens and pigs.

Females can grow up to 20 feet long, but males are smaller, usually between 12 and 16 feet. Larger females can weigh up to 200 pounds and live up to 25 years.
Blaze has hiss-storic footnote

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