Question:
4 Trapped After Pet Store Roof Collapses
By Associated Press
Published March 4, 2005, 2:36 PM CST

EATONTOWN, N.J. -- The roof of a pet supply store collapsed Friday after a damaged gas line exploded, and at least four people and scores of animals were trapped in the rubble, authorities said.
Two of the six people who had been inside the Petco store were taken to a hospital, Police Capt. George Jackson told WABC-TV in New York. The other four are believed to be trapped.
In addition, about 100 to 200 small animals and fish were likely inside the store at the time of the blast, said Ursula Goetz, director of the Monmouth County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. She said the store sold exotic birds, guinea pigs, ferrets, gerbils and mice.
The explosion occurred as employees were evacuating customers and animals after construction workers damaged an unmarked gas line outside the store and then smelled gas, Petco spokesman Shawn Underwood said.
He said a female manager who was trapped in the basement used her cell phone to direct rescuers to her. It wasn't immediately known if she was still trapped.
Eatontown is about 40 miles south of Newark near the Atlantic coast.


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Poor animals! And people...


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i like how it said they were rushing to evacuate people AND animals...

just sad though


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How sad.


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this is so sad for all involved. at least everyone was helping everyone (and all the animals). and updates on it denise?


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This update was posted about 20 minutes ago on the New York Times site:
EATONTOWN, N.J., March 4 - An explosion caused by a ruptured natural gas line ripped through a pet store in a strip mall in Monmouth County on Friday, injuring five people who were trapped in the building when its roof collapsed, the authorities said.

Construction workers installing electrical lines were digging trenches in the parking lot of the strip mall across the street from the Monmouth Mall about 11:30 a.m. when they accidentally severed a buried natural gas line, said Capt. George Jackson of the Eatontown police. As the volatile fumes filled the air and drifted into a Petco store nearby, the store manager urged customers and employees to flee the building. Within minutes, the gas ignited, setting off a thundering blast that demolished the building's rear wall, blew out plate glass windows and caused a large portion of the roof to cave in. Four store employees and a construction worker were buried.

Alison Hazelet, a Petco worker, said she was grooming a Shih Tzu named Cuddles when the store manager warned employees to leave immediately.

"I just grabbed the dog and ran out," she said. "As soon as we got out, the whole building blew up. The ground was shaking, and there was the sound of glass breaking. I was really scared." Ms. Hazelet and the Shih Tzu, the only dog in the store at the time, were not hurt.

Dozens of firefighters, emergency workers and police officers converged on the scene, and a rescue crew from Fort Dix used specially trained dogs to locate the people trapped inside. By 2:30 p.m., the last two victims had been freed from the rubble, said Sgt. Albert M. Ponenti of the New Jersey State Police.

Michael Bescom of the Monmouth County emergency medical service said that all the victims were conscious when they were rescued and were in stable condition after being taken to local hospitals. He said their injuries were not life-threatening. .

After helping the people trapped by the explosion, rescuers started evacuating the hundreds of animals inside. Officers from local animal rescue agencies and volunteers from other nearby pet stores shuttled in and out of the battered building to retrieve animals. They used plastic crates and glass aquariums to transport reptiles and small rodents.

The fish presented a harder problem because many of the glass containers had been shattered by the explosion and falling debris. As rescuers hurried out of the building in the late afternoon, Ira Hayes, an officer for the Monmouth County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, shouted for more equipment.

"We need buckets, pails, anything," said Mr. Hayes, as one rescuer carried a clown fish in a plastic container and poured it into a picnic cooler serving as an aquarium.

Chief Victor Amato of the Monmouth society said that by late afternoon, rescuers had brought out a parade of animals, including 3 ferrets, 3 chinchillas, 10 rats, 300 mice, 10 gerbils, 40 geckos, 20 frogs and one tree anole. No cats were in the building at the time of the explosion.

But as many as 100 birds were still trapped last night in a section of the store covered by a mound of rubble. Rescuers said at least some were alive. "We've lost a few fish," Chief Amato said, "but we're hoping to get those birds out alive."


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It's so sad, but it's so awesome that they're trying so hard to save the animals...how many grown men would care enough about fish to risk repeatedly going back into a crumbling building to save them? With all the talk about war and gangs and drugs, it's nice to hear about GOOD people for a change.


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no doubt! the fish get me lol...i can't help but imagine some rescue worker trying to revive a guppy...

ok not a funny situation, but that image popped in my mind..does that make me bad?