Firefighters find a dozen snakes and 80 other animals in burning house

CINCINNATI -  Fire was something Nikki Hagaman had always feared would strike her home.

When she saw fire trucks race by where she works towards her house, she started running down the street.

Flames were shooting from her home.

She shared the house in the 1800 block of Adams Road with her fiance', brother, and over 80 animals of just about every stripe you can imagine.

Fire fighters say the found:
    18 rats
    12 rabbits
    10 mice
    9 cats
    7 finches
    5 hamsters
    4 iguanas
    2 guinea pigs
    2 cockatiels
    A hedgehog
    And a bearded dragon.

Add to that list 7 dogs that escaped and lots of snakes.

"I have about 12," said Hagaman outside her burned out home.

She believes a heat bulb used to keep reptiles warm may have started the fire.

Officials found animals were everywhere.

"We brought out a couple of them that we need to get out of there right away," said Hamilton County Deputy Dog Warden David Jones. "There were a couple others that were running loose that we had to contain."

Hagaman volunteers for the Animal House pet store an Adams Road in Mt. Healthy, just down the street from her house.

They specialize in rescuing abandoned animals.

 Hagaman said they've been running out of room to take them all in.

"When we don't have room there, I bring them down here," she said. "That's what happens, and there's been a lot in the last couple of years."

Despite the size of her menagerie, both the SPCA and the owners of the Animal House say Hagaman had been taking good care of the animals.

That's something she can no longer do.

The critters are back to crowding the rescue shop they originally came from.
."They would all be great pets for people," said Animal House owner Mike Raleigh. "Unfortunately (the animals) come from situations that aren't great homes and that's how Nikki and ourselves end up with a lot of them, and we're to find them appropriate homes."

There were no injuries reported to firefighters and the cause of the fire remains under investigation.

S tay with 9 News and WCPO.com for updates as they become available.