Eight-Foot Python Survives School Fire That Destroyed Science Classroom

A fire that caused extensive damage to Forest Middle School in Bedford County, Virginia, has become the center of a dispute between fire investigators and a veteran science teacher over what caused the early morning blaze.

Fire officials have concluded that an eight-foot python named Nanner escaped from its enclosure and knocked over a heat lamp, igniting a fire that damaged eight classrooms. The teacher who owned the snake maintains the sequence of events occurred differently, and that her animal teaching methods have been unfairly maligned.

Firefighters responded to the school just before 1 a.m. Thursday after fire alarms activated. Upon arrival, crews found flames on the second floor, water streaming from the building’s sprinkler system, and smoke billowing from windows. As they advanced into a second-floor classroom to combat the blaze, firefighters discovered the large python hiding beneath a desk. The snake was secured until its owner could retrieve it.

The Forest Fire Department successfully extinguished the fire, but not before eight classrooms sustained water damage from the building’s sprinkler system. A tortoise housed in the classroom perished in the incident.

Brittany Jacobs, an 18-year veteran life science teacher at the school, has challenged the Fire Marshal’s Office determination. In a public statement, Jacobs insisted that Nanner escaped her enclosure only after the fire had already begun, fleeing the classroom to escape the intense heat.

“She pushed on the screen so hard to get out that she bent the metal locks,” Jacobs wrote. “She left the room because it was so hot in there. So hot that it melted the tank next to hers.”

The Fire Marshal’s Office stands by its findings. “The snake contributed to starting the fire,” the fire marshal stated, while adding, “However, I don’t think there was any maliciousness involved on the snake’s side.”

Jacobs, who studied to become a veterinarian with a specialization in reptiles before entering teaching, has maintained a classroom menagerie for nearly two decades. Her collection has included snakes, frogs, turtles, and tortoises, all used as educational tools for her students.

“I am devastated for many reasons right now,” Jacobs wrote. “All of my teaching tools are now gone, many children will now not have the opportunities that many others have had, 18 years of teaching material is gone.”

She emphasized her safety record, noting that in 18 years of teaching with animals, she had never experienced an escape or any fire damage from heating equipment.

Jacobs defended her pedagogical approach, explaining that animals provide students with something unique in an educational setting. “They offer something that people do not and that is unbiased, unconditional presence for everyone no matter what has happened in their lives,” she wrote.

Following the incident, Jacobs has removed all animals from her classroom.

The fire raises questions about safety protocols for classroom animals and the heating equipment necessary to maintain them. While live animals have long been used as teaching tools in science classrooms across the country, this incident may prompt school districts to review their policies regarding such educational aids.

Neither Jacobs nor school administrators have provided additional comment on the matter.