RI firefighters save 18-foot snake in burning home

[October 06, 2010]  EAST GREENWICH, R.I. (AP) -- Firefighters often have to rescue people from burning homes, sometimes even a dog or cat.

But the 18-foot Bermese python that firefighters had to drag out of a burning Rhode Island home just after midnight Monday may have been a first.

Acting Chief Peter Henrikson tells The Providence Journal that it took two firefighters to carry out the python with a diameter like a "Frisbee" in the middle.

The home's sole occupant managed to escape on his own and brought out his two dogs and a cat.

Henrikson says he hates snakes and wouldn't go near it.

He says it appears the fire started where the pipe of a wood stove met the wall. The East Greenwich house was condemned.

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Information from: The Providence Journal, http://www.projo.com/

[Associated Press]

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