By Lauren Gregory
Chattanooga Times Free Press (Tennessee)
Copyright 2006 Chattanooga Publishing Company
Chi Chi the chinchilla, Jazzy the African grey parrot, Rocky the ferret and Oreo the rabbit were among a dozen members of the Chattanooga Zoo family who perished in an accidental fire that tore through their home late Tuesday night.
The blaze, believed to have sparked from an electrical malfunction, broke out about 11 p.m. Tuesday in the second floor of the zoo’s education building, according to Chattanooga Fire Department spokesman Bruce Garner. Thirteen fire companies were able to contain the fire within 40 minutes, he said.
During that time, office space, a kitchen area and the facility’s infirmary were damaged, zoo Executive Director Dardenelle Long said. Staff members were much more concerned about the two chinchillas, one parrot, two ferrets, two rabbits, three quail, one lizard and one prairie dog who died of smoke inhalation, she said.
“It was extremely hard to take,” Ms. Long said. “For many of us, these are our families. I don’t have kids. These are my children.”
The animals who died had been involved in the zoo’s education program, so they were among the most handled and therefore “the ones you get closer to,” she said.
Luckily, she said, 24 animals were saved. Two prairie dogs, two cockatoos, three parrots, one monitor lizard, one rabbit, two chickens, two sugar gliders, one rat, one duck that had been in rehabilitation and two stray dogs that staff members temporarily had adopted were rehoused within the facility.
Three tortoises, two uromastyx lizards, one leopard gecko and one rehabilitating turtle had to be taken to River Vet Emergency Clinic on Amnicola Highway for oxygen therapy, according to Ms. Long.
Staff at the clinic said all the reptiles were in stable condition Wednesday.
The rest of the zoo’s approximately 150 animals -- including the primates and snow leopards -- were unharmed, as the building where the fire occurred is at the facility’s perimeter, Ms. Long said.
Some of those animals will have to share their living quarters with some of the fire survivors, she added. Zoo staff spent Wednesday situating the dogs in the chimpanzee building and other animals with the reptiles. Office space was relocated to a rented trailer.
To help make the transition as smooth as possible, the zoo has shut its doors to the public until Saturday at 9 a.m.
“That gives us time to move the animals, recover some supplies, and, to be honest, recover ourselves,” Ms. Long said.
The zoo has had plenty of offers of help, she said, citing an outpouring of calls from local residents, the Knoxville Zoo, the Tennessee Aquarium and the Chattanooga Nature Center.
Ms. Long said that is encouraging, as animal supplies lost in the fire need to be replaced. Donation centers have been set up at the Animal Clinic on East 23rd Street and Animal Clinic East on Gunbarrel Road.
“We’re getting a lot of response from the community, so that’s why we want to reopen quickly,” Ms. Long said.