Virginia teacher and firefighters feud over whether a python started schoolhouse fire

A dispute has erupted in Virginia over whether a python owned by a science teacher started a fire in a middle school classroom. The snake, named Nanner, was found outside its enclosure in the classroom when the fire broke out. Authorities blamed the fire on the snake, claiming it knocked over a heat fixture, which sparked the blaze that damaged classrooms and killed a tortoise.

However, the teacher, Brittany Jacobs, who owns the python, has vehemently denied the claim. She argues that Nanner was trying to escape a blaze that was not caused by the snake. Jacobs stated that the heat fixture next to the tortoise that died was securely fastened and could not easily be knocked over. She also noted that the entire heat fixture where the fire started was destroyed, leaving only the heat emitter.

According to Jacobs, there was no evidence that the tortoise enclosure's heat fixture had been knocked over. Surveillance footage showed the fire visible through the glass of her classroom door for 20 minutes before Nanner was seen exiting. Jacobs asserted that Nanner would instinctually have slithered towards the doorway, where the classroom was coolest during the fire.

She claimed that firefighters first confronted Nanner outside her classroom doorway and used a water hose to blast her back into the room. Jacobs further stated that Nanner had soot on her face matching her enclosure's screen holes, suggesting she was in her enclosure when the fire started.