At a Central Virginia middle school, an overnight fire that damaged eight classrooms and killed a tortoise was blamed on an escaped pet python that investigators say knocked over a heat fixture.
The snake's owner, teacher Brittany Jacobs, pushed back on that narrative and argued the snake was innocent, as USA Today reported.
Here's what to know
Local fire officials posted on Facebook that the fire started shortly before 1 a.m. Aug. 13 at Forest Middle School. The Bedford County Fire Marshal's Office ruled the blaze accidental, as USA Today noted.
That determination came after officials concluded that Nanner, an 8-foot female python, had escaped her enclosure and tipped over a heat fixture.
The Forest Fire Department said in the post that firefighters encountered smoke coming from windows, flames inside, and water pouring from the second floor. Once inside, crews located Nanner in a smoke-filled upstairs classroom, shut off the sprinkler system, and extinguished the fire.
"The snake contributed to starting the fire," the fire marshal told WDBJ7. "However, I don't think there was any maliciousness involved on the snake's side."
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But Jacobs, a life science teacher, said the snake had been unfairly blamed. In a Facebook post Aug. 15, Jacobs said hallway surveillance video showed flames visible through her classroom door about 20 minutes before Nanner left the room, which she said suggests the snake may have been trying to get away from the heat.
More background
Jacobs said Nanner was one of several classroom animals used for instruction alongside reptiles, amphibians, fish, and more.
She added that she had locked all the snake enclosures before leaving school. She also said that the two metal locks on Nanner's enclosure appeared to have been stretched and forced off and that soot on the snake's face matched the screen of the enclosure. Jacobs noted the heat fixture and nearby lights were still in place after the fire.
The fire destroyed teaching materials Jacobs said she had built up over nearly two decades. Jacobs has taught for 18 years and spent thousands of dollars caring for the classroom animals, including Bowser, a tortoise she had owned for more than eight years.
What's being done?
USA Today reported that Bedford County Public Schools Superintendent William Dupere said cleanup crews were concentrating on removing soot and making the damaged classrooms safe.
WSET ABC 13 reported that it could take up to a month to reopen the room where the fire started. According to USA Today, the Bedford County Fire Investigator was overseeing the investigation.
Jacobs moved all the animals to her home and said rehoming them was not an option. She pointed to the toll of the fire and said she was "devastated for many reasons."
"I have overwhelming guilt that an exorbitant amount of money is going to have to be spent to fix all of these things, even though this was an accident and not mine or anyone else's 'fault,'" Jacobs wrote.
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