Auburn firefighters rescue snakes

AUBURN (AP) — It may sound like a B-grade movie, but it was all too real for Maine firefighters who encountered “snakes in an attic.”

Firefighters in Auburn learned, upon responding to an attic fire Monday morning, that a tenant was keeping 25 to 30 ball pythons in the attic.

Capt. Scott Hunter told WMTW-TV that firefighters rescued about half of the snakes after being told they were not poisonous.

Firefighters believe a heater used to keep the snakes warm caused the fire. The snakes’ owner told firefighters that he kept the reptiles as pets.

: Auburn firefighter Matt Brochu carries a snake down the stairs of 56 Field Ave., Auburn on Monday morning after a fire in the third floor of the apartment building. According to Auburn fire Chief Frank Roma, they received a call that heating equipment used to keep numerous snakes warm had started a fire. “From the evidence I have seen so far, it would be consistent with the call we received,” he said.

: Residents, neighbors and friends watch firefighters douse a fire on Field Avenue in Auburn on Monday morning.

: Auburn firefighters lower a cabinet containing numerous snakes from an apartment on Field Avenue in Auburn on Monday morning.

: Some of these snakes survived the fire on Field Avenue in Auburn on Monday morning.

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