CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A woman in Bourbonnais is praising Kankakee County sheriff's deputies for rescuing her five-foot-long boa constrictor from her burning home on Thursday morning.
It was about 2 a.m. Thursday and Torrie Frahm had just gotten home from her job at a pizza place.
"I got off work around 1:30 a.m. Got home around 2 a.m. And my house was full of smoke. I didn't even know what was on fire. Right away, I just called 911," she said.
Frahm realized the fire was coming from her snake's tank, most likely caused from the heat lamp.
Kankakee County sheriff's deputies were first to arrive.
"As soon as the officer came in he opened the door and started spraying the fire extinguisher. The snake jumped out of the tank. And I hurried up and grabbed him.
"I was scared I was going to get bit, honestly. He's never bitten me once, but I can imagine the stress he was going under - being trapped in your house like that and everything's on fire. It's got to be pretty scary."
But Frahm said Eragon, her 6-year-old Colombian red-tailed boa, did not bite her.
"Once it was safe to go back inside, I held him in bed with me for awhile under the blanket and got him all warmed up. He just sat and stared at me the whole time."
Frahm said her 7-year-old tarantula, Pandora, also survived the fire.