Only a small percentage of the hundreds of animals at Aqua-Rama Pet Center in Fayetteville survived a fire Sunday night, the owner s granddaughter said.
All that remains of the family-owned pet store that s called Fayetteville home for the past half-century are three snakes, a rabbit, a few turtles, some freshwater fish and a scarlet macaw that s struggling to survive after a large fire ripped through the store Sunday evening.
Shayanne Orme, whose grandfather, Joe Spano, has owned the store at 4937 Bragg Blvd. for more than 40 years, said that s only around 3% of the hundreds of animals that were in the store. Most died in the fire.
A fire broke out at Aqua-Rama Pet Center on Bragg Boulevard on Sunday evening, according to a news release from the Fayetteville Fire Department.
A caller reported smoke coming from the roof of the business at 4937 Bragg Blvd., between Mike and Niagara streets, at 7:40 p.m.
The first unit on scene also reported smoke visible from the roof and the incident was upgraded to a working fire, the release said.
Fire broke through the roof shortly after firefighters arrived and one crew declared an emergency due to a ceiling collapse, but were able to safely evacuate, the release said.
Just prior to the collapse, firefighters can be heard on scanner traffic recordings discussing rescuing animals.