PROVIDENCE JOURNAL (Rhode Island) 05 October 10 No rescue mission for faint-hearted (Bryan Rourke)
East Greenwich: A man and his pets safely escaped an early-morning fire in East Greenwich. And firefighters had their hands full in a way they generally don’t.
The owner of the house evacuated his two dogs and his cat. But the Fire Department went into the burning house to rescue the man’s other pet: an 18-foot Burmese python.
“It was the biggest snake I’ve ever seen in my life,” said acting Fire Chief Peter Henrikson.
“It was 18 feet long and, at the center, it was as big as a Frisbee. It took two firefighters to carry it out.”
Henrikson was not involved in carrying the snake.
“I hate snakes,” he said.
At 12:31 a.m. Monday, the East Greenwich Fire Department received a call of a house fire at 674 Carrs Pond Rd. Firefighters arrived in eight minutes, Henrikson said.
Firefighters found the 1½-story house burning where the pipe of a wood stove met the wall. The one occupant of the house, Douglas St. Jean, got himself and his four-legged pets out before the Fire Department arrived.
St. Jean told firefighters he still had one pet inside the burning house, and that it was in a large cage on the second floor. It was a python.
“He told us it was docile,” Henrikson said. “It creeped me right out.” He said a recycling bin was too small to hold the snake, which the firefighters ended up securing in a horse trailer.
The house had moderate fire damage on the first floor near the wood stove, Henrikson said; minor damage to the second floor and a hole in the roof that was punched to fight the fire.
Henrikson said the town building inspector condemned the house.
No rescue mission for faint-hearted