Animals perish in devastating fire at exotic pet store in Indiana County

May 28--Mike Pearce gently lifted a 4-foot alligator, swaddled it in a pink towel, and raced it out of his fire-damaged exotic pet store in Indiana County Thursday afternoon.

The alligator, a spectacled caiman, was among the few reptiles, birds and mammals that survived the flames that swept through Pearce's Pet Place in White Township, just outside Indiana Borough.

"The caiman has had a number of names throughout the years, but today his name is Survivor," Pearce said.

For more than three decades, the store at 324 Rustic Lodge Road has sold pet reptiles -- alligators, snakes and iguanas -- along with amphibians, small mammals, fish, invertebrates and birds.

Many of those in stock died in the fire, Pearce said.

Three lizards, a snake and two turtles survived, said Anna Clawson, Pearce's niece. An American alligator and six aquatic turtles housed in enclosures outside were unharmed.

The spectacled caiman and a rattlesnake that survived were trapped in their cages until after noon because fire damage left that section of the store unsafe, Pearce said.

The caiman is nearly as old as his business, he said.

"He's 34 years old, too," Pearce said. "It was within a month or two of opening the store I got him. ... We started out of a little, wee garage."

Henry Kacprzyk, curator of reptiles for the Pittsburgh Zoo, said caimans can live up to 50 years.

Pearce said he was in the apartment above the store when he smelled something unusual around midnight. He thought something had fallen onto the heating element of his dishwasher. Then he noticed smoke rising from the floor around it.

Pearce woke his family and ran downstairs to the front door of the pet store.

"I tried to open (the door) to shut off the electric box that's right in there, but there was just no doing it," Pearce said. "At that point, I ran upstairs yelling, 'Fire!' and everybody was coming out. Then my son wanted to go back in" for the family's cats and dogs.

The family's pets escaped unharmed.

Fire officials haven't determined what started the blaze, which heavily damaged the two-story frame building, despite the efforts of multiple fire departments that arrived just after midnight. Pearce said smoke and fire left the family's second-floor living quarters uninhabitable.

Pearce posted a message on the store's Facebook page Thursday morning to tell customers the business is closed indefinitely.

"It is with a heavy heart that I must write this post. Around midnight (Thursday) we suffered a devastating fire in the store. Due to this we are closed indefinitely and apologize for any and all inconvenience," he wrote.

"I'd like to say we'll reopen," Pearce said later. "I don't know if I'm going to have enough insurance to rebuild."

More than a dozen friends and relatives showed up to help Pearce salvage fish tanks and other items .

"I've known him for 11 years," said Don Henry of Indiana. "It actually started out just coming out and getting a rat here and there for my then-still-young ball python. We've become friends over the years, so of course you want to be there when a friend is in need."

Henry said friends are working to start a gofundme account to raise money for Pearce and his family.

Greg Reinbold is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 724-459-6100, ext. 2913 or [email protected].

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