CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. — Ten small birds died after a fire broke out at Brandon's Exotic Pet Store in western Chesterfield County on Friday morning.
Crews were dispatched to the store in the 11900 block of Hull Street Road just after 9:20 a.m. after receiving a 911 call, according to officials.
"The first firefighters that arrived on scene found smoke coming from the front door of Brandon’s Exotic Pets," officials with Chesterfield Fire and EMS said. "After fighting the flames and rescuing numerous animals, they were able to mark the fire under control within 20 minutes."
Officials said the fire, which stemmed from an electrical issue just inside the front door, has been ruled accidental.
Stephanie Newcomb, who works next door, noticed smoke coming from the store.
"I saw smoke coming out the front of the store over there and all the fire trucks came,” Newcomb said.
Newcomb has visited Brandon’s Exotic Pet Store multiple times and described it as a home to “lots of birds, lots of snakes, lots of lizards.”
Watching the fire from her front door left her emotional.
“I was just kinda crying about the animals,” she said. “The most terrifying thing about the whole thing is just knowing that those animals were in there and couldn’t get out.”
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While one of the store's owners said the ten birds died of smoke inhalation, he said many others survived.
“They were super blessed with that,” Newcomb added.
Throughout Friday morning, employees and owners removed cages from the building, loading them into a van and onto a flatbed trailer.
One of the owners mentioned that he has another facility where he will temporarily relocate all the animals so they can recover from the ordeal.
This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.
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