Fire breaks out at Chester Zoo, England

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Monday, December 17, 2018 

A fire occurred on Saturday at Chester Zoo in Cheshire, UK, in a building the zoo says is the largest indoor zoological exhibit in the UK, at 11:30 a.m. local time (UTC). The only injury reported was a case of smoke inhalation. Some of the animals living there died.

Chester Zoo opened in the early 1930s. It is now home to around 21 thousand animals from 500 species. Nearly two million people annually visit Chester Zoo, reportedly the largest annual draw of any zoo in the UK not in London. However, the fire caused it to shut down on Saturday.

The monsoon forest habitat, where the fire occurred, housed, amongst other creatures, crocodiles, orangutans, macaques, and birds. In an attempt to replicate the conditions of South East Asia, it was kept at a temperature of 26.6°C (about 80°F). Reports passed on by witnesses indicated zoo personnel evaluated at least 40 animals from the area. The zoo reopened on Sunday.

Although all the mammals reportedly survived, some of the frogs, insects, and small birds housed there died. The fire spread very quickly and strong winds helped the fire spread so fast. Reports suggested the fire was caused by an electrical fault.

"England: Fire at London Zoo kills aardvark, meerkats believed dead" — Wikinews, December 24, 2017

• "Chester zoo fire:Birds,frogs, fish and insects killed in blaze" — Sky news, December 16, 2018

• "Chester Zoo re-opens after fire" — BBC News Online, December 16, 2018
• "Visitors evacuated as fire breaks out at Chester zoo" — Sky News, December 16, 2018
• "Fire at Chester Zoo leads to evacuation of visitors" — BBC News Online, December 15, 2018
• "Chester zoo fire:Orag-utans saved from blaze at 'monsson forest'" — The Daily Telegraph, December 15, 2018
• Mattha Busby. "Large fire causes evacuation at Chester zoo" — The Guardian, December 15, 2018
• Tom Duffy. "Chester zoo fire-are the Monsoon Forest animals safe? Everything we know so far" — Liverpool Echo, December 15, 2018
  

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This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable. Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication. Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators. Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections. Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.