Cat Hid Under Bed, Survives Fire In South Brunswick Mobile Home

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ — A cat just used up one of his nine lives after he somehow survived a three-alarm fire that destroyed two mobile homes in South Brunswick earlier this week. His owners say Snake the cat lived by hiding under a bed as the home ignited and was consumed by flames all around him.

The fire broke out at 4 in the morning this past Wednesday, Oct. 24 and quickly engulfed two homes in the Brookside Mobile Home Park off Rt. 1. Gladys Hansen, 85, who lived in one of the homes, made it out alive, but she had to assume her three beloved cats were gone. And they were, police initially thought. There was no way Meow Meow, Felix and Snake could have escaped the blaze that eventually took up to 50 firefighters who rushed in from neighboring towns to control, and prevent from spreading to neighboring trailers.

Later that day on Wednesday, once they were allowed back inside, Gladys' son and his friends were combing through the charred wreckage. They found Meow Meow's body burrowed halfway in a closet; sadly, they think the animal died desperately trying to find some air. They also found the body of Felix.

Then, they flipped over a mattress and bed frame. Snuggled in a ball in the corner under the bed was Snake. The 12-year-old male cat was soaking wet, and was lethargic, but conscious and breathing.

"They were like, 'Holy crap!'" said Steph Heyer, who is dating Hansen's son and recounted the discovery to Patch. "We rushed him to a vet and the vet said that he did develop an infection from inhaling all the smoke, but he was otherwise fine, and that he was gonna make it."

The family thinks Snake went under the bed and simply curled up in a ball to escape the flames, smoke and later high-pressure water hoses that blasted the trailer from all sides. Even though everything else in Gladys' trailer was destroyed, the bed protected him.

Sadly, a third cat in the neighboring mobile home died as well. Snake is still coughing up black soot as of Friday, but he's eating, drinking and sleeping normally, the family said.

When they gave Snake back to Gladys, "It was like a kid on Christmas morning, but better," said Heyer. "She was crying, we were all crying. She couldn't believe she got one of them back. So, at least something good came out of all this."

The older woman is staying with her daughter in South Brunswick. A GoFundMe page has been set up for the older woman: https://www.gofundme.com/event...

Photos provided to Patch by the family. Past Patch reporting on this fire: 4 Pet Cats Perish In Monmouth Junction Trailer Park Fire