BY JULIE IRWIN and B.G. GREGG
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The roof of the zoo's manatee house is all but gone after Wednesday night's blaze.
(Tony Jones photo)
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Now that dreams of a summer debut for their $4 million manatee house have been dashed, Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden officials assessed fire damage Thursday and expressed hope the exhibit could open in five to six months.
Damage to the partially built structure from a Wednesday night fire was not as bad as officials had feared, although damage estimates ran about $3 million. A sprinkler system had been scheduled for installation next week.
The cause of the fire has not been determined, and no rebuilding schedule will be set until structural engineers inspect the site. The roof of the building was engulfed in flames, but nearly all the walls remained standing.
The zoo was open Thursday. One area was cordoned off, blocking access to the Cat Canyon and Rhino Reserve, but officials expected it to be open today.
"It's a setback, but it could have been so much worse," zoo director Ed Maruska said of the five-alarm fire. "I'm so grateful no one was hurt and the collection is intact."
Veterinarians examined animals Thursday and found no respiratory problems from the heavy smoke, Mr. Maruska said. More than half his staff came to the zoo Wednesday night to check on the animals. Mr. Maruska had sent out invitations Tuesday to colleagues across the country for the Manatee Springs' grand opening, originally scheduled for July 10. The new exhibit was scheduled to be the first time the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has allowed manatees out of Florida.
"We will get our manatees. It's just going to be later than we thought," Mr. Maruska said.
"We're looking at this now as just a setback," he said. "They'll just stay in Miami a little while longer than we thought."
"Oh, of course," agreed Seaquarium spokeswoman Marlene Oliver. "We'll house them until Cincinnati's facility is ready. We're all saddened by what happened, but the manatees will be fine here until then."
The construction site was insured by multiple policies that are expected to cover the damage. Mr. Maruska said no levy money and no admission fees would be used to rebuild the site.
Practice paid off for firefighters Wednesday, officials said. Assistant Fire Chief David P. Hill said the fire division has a plan on how to fight fires at all of the city's "major occupancies," and that firefighters conduct "Sunday drills" at the zoo as frequently as twice a month.
"This went very, very well, given the size of the incident," he said. "This was one of the biggest incidents we've had in years."
There have been a few small fires at the zoo in the past, but this fire required 12 engine companies, five truck companies, one heavy-rescue unit, one paramedic unit and one ambulance, along with dozens of firefighters.
Narrow roads and pathways, along with heavy shrubbery, make fighting fires at the zoo difficult, but familiarity with the grounds helped firefighters, Chief Hill said. Visibility was extremely poor because of the thick, dark smoke billowing from the fire.
"I was there for an hour and a half before I could even see the structure because of the thick smoke," he said.
Fire officials were concerned that construction materials in the building might have contained dangerous chemicals. But preliminary tests conducted after the fire showed irritants but no toxins in the smoke or in the run-off water used to fight the fire, said District Chief Mike Kroeger. Fire officials do not know what chemicals or plastics were involved.
"There's still 4 feet of water in there and we can't look at it right now," Chief Hill said.
Neighbors of the zoo, though, were still concerned about the heavy black smoke that filled the area for hours Wednesday night. "We never knew there were flammable materials there, so close to everyone," said Joel McCray, who has lived around the corner from the zoo for 40 years. "It was a shock, it was frightening -- all that boom, boom, boom! Everybody was quite concerned and most surprised." Once on the scene Division Chief Glenn Coleman decided quickly to go into a "defensive" mode, rather than keep his firefighters inside the burning building, trying to push the fire out.
"He knew there was a possibility of collapse and got them all out of there," Chief Hill said.
The firefighters then concentrated on keeping the fire from spreading. Most firefighters and the gathering crowd were kept a good distance away from the thick smoke, because fire officials did not know what plastics or chemicals had been released into the air.
Chief Hill said evacuation was not necessary, because the smoke did not appear toxic and the fire was "very, very hot and the majority of the smoke was rising rapidly."
Zoo officials have an emergency plan, but spokeswoman Barbara Rish was unable to provide details of the plan or say whether it was activated.
The zoo was packed Thursday with about 6,000 visitors, including dozens of school groups. Few expressed concern about the previous night's event.
"I'm not worried," said Rachel Newman, 29, of Dayton. "We're with a school group, so I guess we don't have a whole lot of choice."
A potential problem for firefighters had been averted earlier in the day. Because of satellite problems, pagers for firefighters and chiefs were out. Fire Chief Robert Wright ordered new pagers, which arrived late in the afternoon, and those pagers were used to call several chiefs and extra firefighters to the scene.
Jim Knippenberg contributed to this report.
Zoo plans for the exhibit
