Animal Facility Fire. Loss of Life...

[Laura]

http://www.ksby.com/Global/story.asp?S=10236624

The big news, as many of you have already heard, was the fire at Zoo-to-You in Paso Robles. Early Thursday morning April 16, their controlled environment house caught fire and burned, killing about 38 of their animals. Among those killed included all of Zoo to You's frogs, two alligators, several sloths, parrots, an owl, hedgehogs, eight chinchillas, and two kookaburras. Lisa Lulu (the macaque) and Linus (the Slow Loris) also perished.



Here is a link for more info about their devastating loss. http://www.ksby.com/Global/story.asp?S=10236624

 

[Isa]

Really sad story, the poor animals... They must have been so scared

 

[Candy]

I'm so sad for the animals and the people that worked with the animals there. I think it would be a good idea before they build again to put some kind of system in place (like a sprinkler system) in case this would ever happen again.

 

[richalisoviejo]

Very sad story. I like animals more then I like most people.

 

[Laura]

Im just hoping they had some sort of Insurance.. They are good people who did great things for and with animals..
I dont know about a sprinkler system.. but they dont always work well if they are there..

 

[Laura]

Update on what happened and what will happen and what they need:

First We really want to thank everyone who called, The sound of a
familiar voice made all the difference in the world. This has been so
hard.
All of you who wrote, Knowing that we have friends that care, is the
best feeling in the world.
All of you who gave. And are continuing to give. That is amazing and
we will not let you down.
And we want to thank the fireman who so lovingly treated each animal
like a family member. They were so amazing.

On the wall in our office was the first check we ever received, and
pictures of all our animal friends.
On the wall in our new office is going to be copies of all the checks
from all the caring people, some we have known for years some we have
never formally met, but all who have come to help us in our time of
need. There will be pictures of the people who just showed up from
the moment they heard. There will be names of those who lent a hand
who brought supplys, who gave things that we needed. There will be
letters from people who cared to send a friendly note. And most
importantly there will be pictures of the animals the friends who we
lost. The ambassadors who lost their lives that morning April 23rd.

You start each day thinking about what you are going to do that day.
Start the training on the new spoonbill. Feed the baby porcupine… but
then you get the call…. Angela is screeming… “ the house is on fire!”
I think My house is on fire? I live there at the zoo. Then she
screams again “ The office, the office is on fire”
We could never imagine the devastation. You always think if a
building is on fire you would run in and rescue the animals inside.
That was not an option. The smoke was so thick and black we could not
even see in. The flames were covering the ceiling. We could not even
approach the building. We grabbed hoses and just tried what we could.
Then a man on a horse rides up ( we are in the country after all) and
starts telling us what to do. Hose here… hose there…. Finally the
fireman show up.
Every staff member came to work. Even those who were not supposed to
be in that day. Then old staff members show up, neighbors, friends,
supporters, family. How did they even know? The flames weren't even
out yet... We just held each other as it sunk in.
We started to really think about which animals were in there.
Lisa Lulu the macaque
Bob the alligator and his girlfriend
Moglee and Bageerah the sloths
Ashley, Nick, Rosie and Cinder the chinchillas and the babies
The hedgehogs
All the frogs
The Tarantulas and the millipede
Chalky the African Grey
Sydney the galah or as I called her pretty pink pigeon
Johnny the blue and gold macaw ( you can have as many walnuts as you
want in heaven)
Linus the slow Loris
Lassie and Ben the Kookaburras
Aragon the Iguana……….
What happened after the flames are out was the miracle. As they look
through the rubble a voice comes out. “ Are any of the snakes
Venomous?”
“No” I say “but we do have venomous lizards”
Then they start bring out one after another of reptile enclosure. It
was like they were handing out miracles. After two hours of pure
devastation and grief comes a little light, some glimmer of hope.
First Houdini the king snake that won’t die… he is so old we stopped
counting at 15 years. Then the humungous dumerils boa. It goes on….

So out of it we have 24 survivors. 24 miracles that must have held
their breath.


So what now?

Everyone wants to know what now?
What can people do to help?

The insurance people have picked it apart and decided that it was the
battery back up surge protector on the computer that started the
fire. That it smoldered for about 30 minutes before breaking into
fire. ( how do they figure that out? I guess everyone has a skill)
Nothing we could have done to prevent it.

The insurance is going to cover the lose of the building and the
office stuff. Not the animals enclosures or equipment.

It was our office. It was where we housed our tempeture sensitive
animals, It was our bathroom, (one of my friends dropped of a port-a-
potty the next day) it was where we had all our educational supplies,
(leashes collars, crate covers, towels, training pouches, duffle
bags, soft crates...,) All of our uniforms for us and volunteers. It
was were we kept all the cleaning supplies. I was where we kept our
safety equipment.
We need to replace all those things. We are working on that, but we
also lost all the things in the office that were so precious to us.
Like the pictures of our animals. Plaques awards, letters from kids
pictures they drew things that were precious to us... That was were
we kept our sound equipment. It was also where we kept all of our
educational materials.
If you have attended one of our shows and have a picture of one of our
animals, especially of one that we lost in the fire we would love to
have it. We lost 20 years of memories.
People keep asking us " how can I help?" So many of you have already.

Our website has a paypal link www.zootoyou.com
It is going to take some money to replace the things we need
immediatly to keep doing our educational programs. We thank those of
you who have helped already.

Out of the ashes rises the Phoenix.

We will build a new beautiful and very green office (with sprinkler
system) As soon as the insurance money kicks in.
We hope to take up many offers of help when we build so if you are
still up for that email us again and we will give you a building
schedule.

If you can think of something that we are not thinking of email us.
We are still in shock and trying to sort it all out. We tell people
look around your education building. What do you have in there? That
is what we lost. And need to replace.... We can never replace the
lives we lost on Thursday. We will forever keep those 38 in our
hearts. We thank everyone who grieves with us.

If you know of someone we missed email us, we have lost a great
portion of our database. (Yes we backed up and the back up disk was
right there next to the computer that both burned to the ground…..)

And for those of you who loved Lisa Lu Lu as much as us there will be
a memorial service and burial for her as well as the others on Sunday
May 3 at noon at Zoo To You in Paso Robles. We invite all who would
like to attend.

The news coverage has been good to us, ( i know news and good in the
same sentance....) The good links to go to are.


http://www.ksby.com/Global/story.asp?S=10236624
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30388249/


Thank you again for your support and love. We really can not make it
through this tragic time without the support of our friends. Thanks

Anita Jackson
Director of Education
Conservation Ambassadors

 

[Stazz]

Awww man this made me cry....absolutely devastating !!!! Poor babies!!!!

 

[Isa]

So sad, I am at work and there are tears in my eyes . Thanks for the update Laura.

 

[Laura]

Update with lots of info.
Follow this link to it

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Out-of-the-Ashes-April-23-Fire-at-Zoo-To-You/98258291342


Anita Jackson
Educational Curator
Conservation Ambassador Inc
[email protected]
805 391 0602