Firefighters rescue snakes from the flames

DELRAY BEACH, Fla., Sept. 17 (UPI) -- "Snakes on a Plane" met fire in the hole when heat from a Florida warehouse fire broke cases holding several snakes and they escaped.

Delray Beach firefighters said they broke into a burning warehouse Sunday to find boa constrictors, pythons and other snakes slithering away from the heat and headed for the exit, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., reported Monday.

The warehouse was used by a business that breeds and sells snakes, said Delray Beach Fire-Rescue Battalion Chief Russ Accardi, and housed about 100 reptiles when the fire started.

Accardi guarded the door to make sure snakes didn't slink away while firefighters the snakes from the flames. Other firefighters picked up boa constrictors and pythons that reached up to 17 feet long and 200 pounds to put them in cages.

"We warned all our people to be careful because we didn't know if some of the snakes were poisonous," Accardi said.

An electrical short most likely caused the fire, he said. Damage was estimated at $15,000, including the cost of reptiles that died in the fire.