HERALD EXPRESS (Devon, UK) 31 October 07 Snakes Pulled From House Fire
A python, a corn snake and three cats were saved from a fire at a St Marychurch house yesterday.
Father of two Anthony Woodbridge-Howland, 50, rushed home from a trip to the tip at Newton Abbot after he received a call from his home-schooled 15-year-old son, Joseph, telling him the house was on fire.When he arrived two fire engines from Torquay were extinguishing the blaze in his 23-year-old daughter Amy's bedroom.
Anthony, who had been refitting the kitchen and had just pulled down the ceiling before going to the tip explained that he thought the fire might have been caused by some of the work he had been doing that morning.
But he said the cause of the fire was faulty wiring in a hairdryer in his daughter's bedroom.
Amy had gone to work at Britannia Building Society, where she is a manager, and had left her hairdryer plugged into the wall socket. The socket was on, but the hairdryer was switched off.
Watch Commander Rob Cude from Torquay fire station said that Joseph had come out of the bathroom and seen smoke coming from his sister's bedroom.
Joseph opened the door just a crack, saw there was a fire, grabbed his two pet snakes - Squeezy the python and Casper, a ghost corn snake - before running out of the house and calling the fire brigade.
When the crews turned up, two firefighters used breathing apparatus and a hose reel to tackle the blaze, extinguishing it in 10 minutes.
Mr Cude said: "The cause of the fire was faulty wiring. The hairdryer was used at 7am and had been burning slowly for a good five hours.
"It wasn't a big fire but it had potential and we would ask all people to make sure they turn off electrical appliances like hairdryers or straighteners at the wall and leave them unplugged and away from combustible materials because we are getting more and more incidents like this."
Fire crews also ripped down some of the plaster in Amy's bedroom to make sure the fire had not moved into the roof and used a fan to get rid of the smoke from the house.
When fire crews arrived, Joseph asked for a blanket and Mr Cude said: "We thought it was for him but it turned out to be for his snakes because they were getting cold.
"I asked Joseph where he learnt what to do and he said he remembered it from a talk he had by us at his school. He did exactly the right thing."
The Woodbridge-Howland family have lived at the home for two decades and dad Anthony said: "I am very relieved the fire was contained to one room.
"We will have to get a new window, a new bed and new carpet and make repairs to the wall in Amy's room."
The snakes have gone to Joseph's grandparents so they can stay warm.

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