JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Employees at an Exotic Bird Hospital in Jacksonville’s Baymeadows area spent this Wednesday morning wading through puddles and examining burnt medical equipment after a catastrophic fire ripped through the facility, sending two employees to the hospital and killing one bird.
The Exotic Bird Hospital offers medical treatment and surgeries that can’t be done elsewhere, and hospital employees are working to find a temporary space to provide lifesaving treatment to the nearly 70 animals in their care.
Lynetter Habak was bringing her bird in for a checkup when she learned about Tuesday's fire.
“My heart just dropped for everybody, I was thinking about the staff all the birds, the hospital birds that are here. People that have their boarding pets," Lynette Habak, a bird parent, said.
Employees say it was a chaotic scene Tuesday when the fire broke out. While flames could be seen on the roof, many workers ran into the smoke-filled building, removing huge bird cages and even disconnecting one bird from an IV as they worked to get the animals to safety.
"They went back in multiple times even though they were told not to, because it’s our business, it’s our life, it’s our pets. We love them just as much as their owners do," Sheila Webb, a veterinarian technician, said.
Nearly 70 animals were removed, not only birds but also some reptiles, rabbits and ferrets. Unfortunately, one bird that belongs to an employee died in the fire.
According to initial reports, an oxygen tank explosion caused the fire.
“We’re trying to go in there today to grab all of our equipment that might still be savable and pick up anything else we can grab but as far as in there goes it’s pretty much gone," Sky Bennett, a veterinarian technician, said.
Right now, they are going through damaged incubators, vials of medicine and other supplies trying to figure out what they can salvage.
“We have people scrounging for where am I going to take my pet, cause the dog cat place won’t take them, or they don’t know how to treat them, so that’s the problem," Webb said.
The two employees who were taken to the hospital were treated for smoke inhalation. Webb says both have been released and are doing fine.
Right now, all the animals have been relocated back to their homes or in the care of employees.
Staff are also keeping giving updates through their Facebook page.