If you ever lived in Central Florida in the last 50+ years you’ve probably heard of Gatorland. You may have even visited the attraction once or twice.
When Gatorland opened in 1949 it was called the Florida Wildlife Institute. In the early 50s it became the Snake Village and Alligator Farm. Finally, in 1954, it was renamed Gatorland and it’s carried that name ever since. The park’s landmark giant gator mouth that marked the entrance to the gift shop wasn’t built until 1962.
The iconic mouth seemed to come to life and breath fire today when a fire swept through Gatorland’s gift shop. The fire was first reported just before 6 am. The fire was mostly contained by about 9 am.
The gift shop, administrative and marketing offices are reported to be destroyed. While battling to try and save this old wooden building, firefighters had to keep an eye out for alligators in the holding pond directly behind the building.
Firefighter T.J. Lyon of Orange County Fire-Rescue reported
This particular building, on the very back side, touches the water. So, there is no way to gain access to the rear of this building without walking on the deck or being in a large lake full of alligators.
It is believed that most of the 2,000 or so animals at Gatorland are safe. Officials believe that most of the alligators hid in a lake on the property to avoid the fire. Four animals were kept in a holding pen behind the gift shop. Three of those, a 5-foot long crocodile and two 8-foot pythons, were killed by the fire.
Because of the extensive damage caused by the blaze, it was first thought that all four creatures had died in the fire. It wasn’t until this afternoon that park officials were able to determine that one of the crocodiles in the pen, Mr.O had survived the fire. Michelle Harris, a spokesperson for the park reported that the crocodile was able to survive the blaze by submerging itself under the water. Mr. O has been relocated to a safe area of the park.
According to Harris,
It is a miracle that he is alive. We’re so excited.
I have to admit that I have never been to Gatorland. I’m probably in the minority in this area, at least with long time residents. At the same time, I’ve driven past the attraction many times and that large open gator mouth is a fixture in this area. To me losing the iconic landmark is like the end of an era. I don’t know if park officials plan to rebuild the fixture, but it looks very sad sitting alone and badly charred.
Gatorland President Mark McHugh stated that it might take a year to rebuild the lost structures. He is still hoping to reopen the park soon, though. The show venues and food and beverage areas were undamaged and an alternate entrance will have to be created.
Jan says:
The early reports we had sounded grim, like a lot more exotic reptiles had been killed. I’m glad that Mr. O in his primordial wisdom has managed to find a way to survive. Crocodiles are such amazing creatures.
btw, isn’t it weird how we don’t quite get to tourist attractions nearby that people drive for hours to see?
11/6/2006, 10:07 pmLaura says:
We had to check the news yesterday during school to try and find out what had happened at Gatorland. Like you, we thought that the fire could have killed quite a few animals. I was thankful that only three were killed instead of 300.
Living so close to so many attractions, I have always found it a bit odd that I go to the parks so rarely when people come from so far away to visit. Then again, I love going to D.C. to see all the sights there.
Jan says:
After the first reports of carnage, no follow up news here about how few animals were killed. I guess the media likes only bad news.
11/7/2006, 7:59 pmLaura says:
Typical for the media. Unless it’s local or an area landmark all you hear is the bad news. You have to hunt for the rest of the story.
Templar says:
Oh wow that sucks. I visited there with my kids when we did the typical tourist thing from the UK. Shame about the animals that died but I’m glad that most of them survived it.
11/7/2006, 8:45 pm