New York firefighters stumble across snake-filled apartment
‘Firefighters called to a blaze at a New York apartment nearly tripped over a python before finding they were surrounded by alligators, cobras and black widow spiders, local media reported Friday.
“It felt like something out of a science-fiction scene,” fire department lieutenant Ed Ireland told the New York Post daily. “It looked like a biology lab.”
He said the first he realized something was up when he found an uncaged python near his leg as he entered a room.
The basement apartment, belonging to Tony Baez, 23, also contained frogs, turtles and tarantulas. He reportedly had permits to keep some of the animals.
Two cobras died of smoke inhalation, but the other creatures survived the blaze and were taken to an animal shelter, according to the report.’
