Published April 01. 2021 10:50PM
HOPKINTON, R.I. (AP) — About 80 birds died of smoke inhalation in a fire early Thursday at a Rhode Island bird sanctuary, but hundreds of others survived, fire officials said.
Firefighters responded to the blaze at the Foster Parrots Ltd. and the New England Exotic Wildlife Sanctuary in Hopkinton at about 5:30 a.m., Ashaway Fire Assistant Chief Todd Allen told The Sun of Westerly.
Foster Parrots posted on its Facebook page that 80 to 100 birds and other animals died in the fire and “a third of the building is in ruins.”
“Staff and volunteers are numb with grief and shock,” the organization said in the post.