SFGate: Discovery Kingdom fire kills giraffe

September 5, 2007

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This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate.

The original article can be found on SFGate.com here:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/09/05/MN5IRVHO7.DTL

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Wednesday, September 5, 2007 (SF Chronicle)

Discovery Kingdom fire kills giraffe

Marisa Lagos, Chronicle Staff Writer

(09-05) 08:03 PDT Vallejo -- A male giraffe was killed in an early morning

blaze at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo that also destroyed the

giraffe barn, officials said today.

Two female giraffes had already escaped the blaze when fire crews arrived

at the amusement park around 2:15 a.m. to find the giraffe barn fully

engulfed in flames, said Vallejo Fire spokesman Bill Tweedy.

" Fire was coming out of all the doors and the roof was gone, " Tweedy said.

" (Fire crews) suppressed the fire inside the building ... then discovered

the third giraffe inside. "

Makonnen, the male giraffe, was deceased when firefighters found him, he

said. The blaze - reported by drivers on nearby Highway 37 - was out by

2:35 a.m., according to Tweedy.

Tweedy said the 30-foot by 40-foot barn, worth between $50,000 and

$100,000, is a complete loss.

Fire investigators determined that the fire was caused by an electrical

short in the barn that sent embers flying to the ground, which was covered

in hay. The resulting flames quickly spread to the wood structure, he

added.

" It burned relatively quickly, and because it's located at the back part

of the park it went unnoticed for a while, " he said.

The two giraffes that escaped were led further away from the structure by

fire officials, Tweedy said.

E-mail Marisa Lagos at mlagos. ----

September 7, 2007

I sent her an email concerning my feelings towards the constant lack of care for the animals at Discovery Kingdom and that this is just one more example of why animals should never be used for ANY kind of entertainment, or in amusement parks. We'll see if it gets printed... Jamie. I am in favor of animal rights as well as human rights, for that is the way of the whole human being - Abraham Lincoln