Littleton firefighters emerged from the burned-out business carrying a survivor – a large, long boa constrictor snake.
The firefighters handed the snake to Chad Brown, former University of Colorado and NFL football player, who is a co-owner of Pro Exotic Reptiles in Littleton.
Brown cradled the snake and rushed across a parking lot, placing the boa in large metallic tub with a plastic lid.
“That’s awesome!” Brown said. “That’s one, that’s a start.”
The fire was reported at 5:38 a.m. Monday at 3911 Norwood Drive by a Douglas County Sheriff’s Deputy who was checking on a burglary alarm.
Brown said the fire was burning so hot that it blew out windows, which triggered the alarm.
When firefighters arrived they found heavy smoke streaming from the building and fire raging inside the shop, said Jim Hofstra, division chief with Littleton Fire.
“We have a lot of dead snakes in there,” Hofstra said.
Co-owner Robyn Markland said he was “shell shocked” by the fire that consumed the business and more than 2,000 non-venomous snakes inside the two side-by-side business units.
“I think the animals in this facility are a total loss,” Markland said.
Moments later, Markland got a small piece of good news as a firefighter came out and told him at least one snake, described as a “big snake” survived the fire.
A smile swept across Markland’s face.
“If it’s large, I think it has to be the boa,” Markland said.
Moments later the surviving boa was brought out to Brown.
The one-story building, in a business park just off South Santa Fe Drive south of C-470, suffered heavy fire, smoke and water damage.
Dozens of firefighters, using several trucks including ladders, fought the blaze. No people were injured.
Pro Exotic Reptiles, which touts itself as a breeder of world class reptiles, posted photos of the fire on its Facebook page Monday morning.
“Fire is out,” the business said in a post, “but they won’t let us near the front door. I can’t imagine anything living would survive.”
Markland said the company is a “high-end business” that ships snakes to breeders and collectors around the globe. He said the snakes are stored in plastic containers in racks.
Most of the plastic containers melted in the intense fire, Brown said. He held little hope that other surviving reptiles would be found.
First hand accounts of the blaze posted on the Pro Exotics Facebook page said the building burned for more than an hour, thick black smoke was present and flames were jumping higher than the building at one point.
“Thanks to all for your thoughts and support,” the business said in a later post. “We will stay positive and move forward.”
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Brown, 41 and retired from the NFL, said he got into snakes while at CU. A friend gave him a snake, Brown liked the pet and got another, and then another. He quickly figured out he could sell the animals and make a profit, endeavors that helped him make ends meet while he was a college football player, he said.
Brown’s “passion” for snakes never waned.
“This is something I can do,” Brown said of the business, which could tend to make some folks uneasy.
Among other current pursuits, Brown coaches youth football.
When a play goes against his team, Brown teaches his players: “You can’t change what has just happened,” he said. “But you can control what happens from now on.”
Now, he’s applying the coaching lesson to his life.
“I have the chance to deal with it,” he said. “And move forward.”
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com.
