Jack Prator, Michaela Mulligan
Tampa Bay Times
(TNS)
Multiple animals died in a fire at the Alligator and Wildlife Discovery Center at the popular John’s Pass Village and Boardwalk in Madeira Beach on Thursday morning.
A post on the center’s Facebook page Thursday morning said “nearly all the animals are gone.”
“We are devastated,” the post said.
The post did not say how many animals were killed in the blaze.
The fire at the center at 12973 Village Blvd. was reported just before 3 a.m., according to Spectrum Bay News 9, Tampa Bay Times’ news partner.
Sonny Flynn, 58, the center’s owner, said she rushed over after getting a call about the fire just before 4 a.m.
She wasn’t allowed into the building until after 9:30 a.m.. In the meantime, she waited outside with tears in her eyes while the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office forensics unit finished surveying the scene.
“This is my life’s work,” she said. “They were all my babies. All of them. I just tried to give them the best life.”
The wildlife center housed more than 250 animals including lizards, small mammals, amphibians, turtles and tortoises, fresh and saltwater marine life, and alligators, according to the facility’s website.
All of the alligators, crocodiles, turtles and tortoises survived, including Rudolf, a 31-year-old tortoise who was the shelter’s first rescue. But most of the lizards and mammals perished in the fire, Flynn said.
Flynn doesn’t suspect arson and said investigators never mentioned the possibility to her.
“I don’t know who would want to hurt animals,” Flynn said.
The rescue center sparked controversy in 2019 with its “sloth yoga” classes. Flynn said there hasn’t been a sloth in the building since January.
Josette Anderson watched from the street on Thursday morning as the center’s employees carried turtles, birds and small alligators out onto the second floor balcony. She waved to her daughter, Chandler, who works for the center.
“I just got here just for support,” she said. “Just to give her a hug.”
Anderson said fire rescue did their best to save the animals, even giving CPR to a pig. The animal, like most of the center’s mammals, didn’t survive.
“She was just filled with smoke,” Anderson said.
Flynn was most worried about the skunks, squirrels, chinchillas and rats sheltered at the center.
“We have pet masks on the truck to provide oxygen to dogs and cats but this was just one of those rare circumstances with the animals involved that there wasn’t much we could do for them,” Madeira Beach Fire Chief Clint Belk told Bay News 9.
Flynn said she doesn’t know where to house survivors of the fire. When Hurricane Ian approached in September last year, Flynn brought 52 animals from the center home.
She had already heard from the Gator Boys, an alligator rescue sanctuary in Everglades Holiday Park, who have offered to take in some of the center’s alligators.
Robin Gomez, Madeira Beach city manager, said community support has already started to pour in. Tampa Bay Beaches Chamber of Commerce set up a donation site for the shelter.
“We’ll do whatever we need to do to get this up and running as quickly as we can,” Gomez said.
Gomez said at least three other businesses were damaged in the fire.
Tina Sullivan owns two businesses on either side of the rescue shelter: Beach Bites & Burgers and Beach Fun & Games Arcade. She doesn’t know when she will be able to reopen.
“I can’t even think straight,” she said. “I’m trying to hold it together.”
Belk told Bay News 9 that damage is expected to exceed $1 million and that water and smoke damaged nearby businesses.
The State Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the cause of the fire, Belk said.
The animals at the center originated from places such as the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, wildlife rescues and owners who could no longer care for their pets, according to the website.
“Our immediate goal is the provision of humane, professional care for pet surrenders and orphaned native wildlife that cannot be safely returned to the wild,” the center said in its mission statement.
This is a developing news story that will be updated.
©2023 Tampa Bay Times. Visit tampabay.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
