CALGARY HERALD (Alberta) 26 November 06 Fire leaves family homeless - Dad re-enters burning house to save snake (Gwendolyn Richards) {Excerpt}
Six people -- along with a cat, dog and an exotic snake -- are homeless after a fire ripped through a northeast home sending clouds of black smoke into the wintery sky.
Walter Christie was watching television with his 16-year-old daughter around noon Saturday when she said she thought she smelled something.
"I said, 'That's wood burning. Get out,' " Christie recalled, as firefighters continued to battle the blaze destroying his home.
Natasha took their dog, Chyna, out, but Christie ran back into the house to alert his downstairs neighbours and rescue his cat and a 1.7-metre royal ball python named Zeus, which was attempting to break out of its cage.
He turned to run back to the door, but the house had filled with thick, choking smoke.
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John MacKinnon, who lived with two roommates in the basement of the destroyed home, said the two furnaces that heated the home had been running continuously for the last three days.
"I think it overheated," he said.
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While Christie, his two daughters and their pets are safe, he mourned the loss of valuables such as childhood photos and pictures of his daughters.
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Dad re-enters burning house to save snake