There鈥檚 much work to be done at Urban Safari Rescue Society in South Surrey after a Saturday morning fire destroyed its front room, killing approximately 60 animals.
鈥淲e lost all of the mammals 鈥� the sugar gliders, the guinea pigs, the skinny pigs (hairless Guinea pigs), the birds鈥� a lot of the reptiles 鈥� we lost frogs, some geckos, some snakes and all of the fish except some of the betas,鈥� said Pamala-Rose Combs, vice president on the rescue society鈥檚 board of directors.
Surrey Fire Service assistant chief of operations Greg McRobbie confirmed dispatch received a call about a possible structure fire at the society鈥檚 address, 1395 176 St., at 8:54 a.m. Saturday (Jan. 28) and noted 18 firefighters responded.
鈥淭hey made entry into the building and found light to moderate smoke conditions鈥� there was a small fire contained to a heating unit on one of the animal cages.鈥�
A power outage had happened the night before, Combs said, and when the power came back on, 鈥渋t came back with a surge that overpowered the surge protector that was powering a snake tank.鈥�
The front room houses a lot of smaller animals and species, such as bugs and spiders, so about 200 of the rescue鈥檚 approximately 325 animals were in the room that had the fire.
鈥淓verybody wants to know what happened to the cockroaches 鈥� the hissing Madagascar cockroaches,鈥� Combs noted.
鈥淥ne died out of 100 so they mostly made it.鈥�
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Right now, she and staff and volunteers are 鈥渇ocusing on what needs to be done鈥� and trying to set aside the sad aspects of the fire and its aftermath.
鈥淲hen we start to focus on the animals that didn鈥檛 make it and the animals that we may still lose and the amount of work that鈥檚 involved it can get a little overwhelming,鈥� she said Sunday.
鈥淭he risk we鈥檙e facing now is secondary respiratory infections.鈥�
Two separate veterinarians are visiting in the next few days to help assess and treat the remaining animals, all of whom have been moved to a different part of the rescue or temporarily fostered off-site.
鈥淲e鈥檙e still in triage but coming out, I think.. we鈥檙e looking at the clean up 鈥� everything is covered with a thick layer of soot,鈥� Combs said.
鈥淲hen you start adding up the costs of everything 鈥� all the tanks, the furniture, new front door locks鈥� it鈥檚 just adding up. We don鈥檛 know how much insurance will cover. We鈥檙e hoping we鈥檒l hear from the (insurance) adjuster Monday or Tuesday.鈥�
In the meantime, they鈥檙e buying heaters to help keep all of the animals that were moved warm, as well as replacing every single power bar and electrical cord because they don鈥檛 know what was affected in the fire.
The room will need to be 鈥渃ompletely gutted鈥� with rewiring likely required as well, she said.
Even as they deal with the mess, there鈥檚 been 鈥渓ittle rays of hope.鈥�
They had thought the pixie frog was dead, but it turns out, he鈥檇 just stayed under water long enough to wait out the fire and smoky environment.
鈥淲e went in today to clean out his tank, thinking he was gone 鈥� and he moved!鈥� she said.
A small boa named Solo also made it, thanks to the fact he had just been switched to a tank that fell in the fire, breaking the top so he could escape.
鈥淗e lost an eye he may lose his other eye, but he鈥檚 alive and he seems to be doing well!鈥�
The鈥檙e hoping the mounting costs will be offset by a fundraiser, one that has been ongoing.
About $2,000 of the GoFundMe is current, but the bulk of it is from 2020 to some time last year, Combs said, noting she didn鈥檛 want to start a brand new account when one was already active.
Help is needed for cleanup efforts, an they鈥檙e trying to keep everyone as updated as possible through the society鈥檚 Facebook site.
鈥淥ne of the heart warming moments in all this heartbreak is the sheer volume of support coming form the public,鈥� Combs said.
鈥淭o see it and to see all the people showing up here to help鈥� knowing we still mean something to the community and that they still care about us 鈥� it means so much in all of this.鈥�
tricia.weel@peacearchnews.com
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