By Travis Reed
The Associated Press
ORLANDO, Fla. — A faulty reptile heating device caused a fire that destroyed the gift shop and killed three animals at Gatorland, one of Florida’s oldest tourist attractions, investigators said.
A spark from the heating device, an electrically warmed plastic sheet covered with mulch for snakes to lie on, apparently ignited the 7,000-square-foot (630-square-meter) gift shop, Florida Fire Marshall’s Detective Bill Newman said Wednesday.
“The whole interior of that building and the exterior was covered in wood,” he said. “Plus just the gift shop contents itself — T-shirts, sweat shirts.”
A crocodile and two pythons kept in pens near the gift shop were killed, but no people were injured.
The three-alarm fire also damaged some offices and charred the concrete alligator mouth tourists walk through to enter the park — a Florida icon that has appeared in movies, magazines and countless tourists’ pictures.
The 110-acre (44-hectare) park opened in 1949 and features people wrestling alligators, a “jumparoo” show where the big reptiles leap for food, and up-close encounters where guests can hold snakes, scorpions, spiders and birds.
Mark McHugh, Gatorland’s president and chief executive officer, estimated the blaze cost the park $2 million (euro1.6 million) to $3 million (euro2.4 million), and said it was losing $4,000 (euro3,100) to $5,000 (euro3,900) in retail sales each day it remained closed. Park officials hope to reopen Nov. 22.
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On the Net: http://www.gatorland.com