UPDATE 11:44am – Terry Philip the General Curator gave a heartfelt message on facebook.
“The love and life our staff poured into the care of these magnificent animals know no bounds. We are absolutely crushed.”
An off exhibit animal holding building was lost that held African spur sized tortoises, red footed tortoises, alligators. All of these animals of were lost. The giant tortoises were not lost. Those included Orville, Tank, Sampson, Kenny, Peabody, and Hugo, who were all housed in a separate building.
UPDATE 6:15am The Rockerville Fire Department reports a number alligators and tortoises died in the fire. Upon arriving at Reptile Gardens firefighters observed a detached agricultural shelter on fire that extended to the roof and ceiling with heavy smoke. The structure and surrounding natural vegetation fires are contained. No civilian or first responder injuries are reported.
RAPID CITY, S.D. – Volunteer fire units responded to structure fire at Reptile Gardens early Friday morning, where a building housing some of the facility’s reptiles was affected according to the Rockerville Fire Department. Reptile Gardens reports that the fire effected an off exhibit area.
The Rockerville Volunteer Fire Department was paged to the structure fire at 12:41 a.m. Resources from multiple agencies were still on the scene as of early morning but were expected to be released shortly.
The structure involved in the incident housed some of the reptiles at the popular Rapid City attraction, which sits just south of Rapid City.
An official press release detailing the cause and extent of the fire, as well as the status of the animals, is expected to be provided later today by officials.
The unified response involved several local and county agencies including Rockville Volunteer Fire Department, Rapid City Fire, Battle Creek Fire, Whispering Pines Fire, Hill City Fire, Pennington County Fire Admin, Pennington County Sheriff’s Office, Pennington County 911, MDU, Black Hills Electric Coop, and the South Dakota State Fire Marshal’s Office.
