The fire is not the only thing that's hot

[NicoleRussell]

(taken from the venom list)

Fighting fire ... and snakes
December 2004



Firefighters who rushed to battle a huge blaze that erupted on the set of a
Hollywood movie had to contend with rattlesnakes along with the flames when
they arrived on the scene.


Fire officials said they were warned by the film crew that a cast of live
rattlesnakes was loose on the set when the fire broke out, forcing the
evacuation of more than 2,000 people from the convention center in
Tucson, Arizona.


The inferno, which started during the filming of a scene for a television
movie called Desperation, based on a novel by Stephen King, caused hundreds
of thousands of dollars in damage.


Several poisonous snakes, as well as live tarantulas and scorpions,
initially complicated the firefighting effort by forcing firefighters to
take special care to avoid the creatures.


But the firefighters managed to put out the blaze and save the rattlesnakes
and other creepy-crawlies.


"They're fine," said Deputy Chief Randy Ogden of the Tucson Fire
Department. "We had some of the (movie's wild-animal) handlers, and (the
animals) were all wrangled out without any problem."


The blaze on Friday in the crowded Tucson Convention Centre, the city's
biggest entertainment venue, took more than 60 firefighters and one hour to
bring under control.


Police and firefighters had to evacuate elegantly dressed symphony goers,
along with denim-clad fans from a concert by country music star Keith
Urban, after the blaze erupted in the building.