As many as 100 snakes killed in house fire in northern England

Dozens of snakes were killed Tuesday in a fire that damaged a house in northern England, fire officials said. North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue said the blaze apparently began in a "reptile room" at the house in York, the Daily Mirror reported. A woman who was alone in the house and was believed to be a guest of the owner appeared to be uninjured but was taken to a hospital to be examined. "There was a serious fire on the ground floor in what appeared to be a kitchen to start with but turns out is actually a reptile room with a large number of various types and sizes of different snakes, all of which appear to have been killed in the fire," Alan Bell, a spokesman for the fire agency, said. There may have been as many as 100 snakes in the house, officials said. None survived the blaze. The rest of the house was damaged by smoke. The cause of the fire had not been determined late Tuesday.