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Fire damages tiger owner's compound
By Scott McCabe and Rochelle Brenner, Palm Beach
Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, July 20, 2004
LOXAHATCHEE -- Thirty-two years after a lion pulled
Steve Sipek from a blaze on a Tarzan movie set, Sipek
and a lioness saved each other from a roaring house
fire.
It's the latest twist in a seemingly never-ending tiger's
tale. Last week, Sipek's 600-pound tiger Bobo, a 6-year-old
Bengal-Siberian mix, escaped from the 5-acre compound
for more than a day before wildlife officials shot and
killed him. Bobo's story was broadcast around the world,
and Sipek and legions of animal lovers have claimed
that Bobo was murdered.
On Monday, an electrical fire nearly burned Sipek's
home to the ground.
"I need to have a talk with the Lord. Is it his
doing, or did the devil come down here and doesn't want
to leave?" said Sipek, a T-shirt showing an image
of Bobo stretched tightly across his massive chest.
Black soot covered his bulging arms, which still show
the scar from the burns in the 1972 fire.
Sipek and his 9-year-old lioness, Stefi, were trapped
inside the compound's gymnasium behind a wall of flames
and black smoke. Stefi was going crazy, flying around
the weight room as the fire leaped toward them, Sipek
said.
"I was choking to death," Sipek said. "You
can only hold your breath for so long."
Sipek grabbed Stefi and moved to the bathroom. Stefi
saw light coming through the large window, Sipek said,
and the two ran to daylight, crashing through the glass.
Palm Beach County fire officials say the fire was likely
caused by a faulty air conditioner that had been repaired
by a volunteer earlier in the day. The unit was blowing
cold air for about 15 minutes before the blaze erupted.
Sipek said the electrician was a friend of a friend
who offered to fix the air conditioner after hearing
about Bobo.
Two of the big cats were in the house when the fire
started, at about 4 p.m. Sipek ran in and carried out
Missy, a 120-pound cougar who was still groggy from
having surgery. He then ran back and knocked down the
door to reach Stefi, but the two became trapped.
Fire totaled the laundry room and weight room and gutted the attic, Jerauld said. Smoke damaged the rest of the house.
The ex-Tarzan actor shared the house with his cats, which also include a leopard, a black panther and another lion. Walls in the home were decorated with leopard prints and tiger stripes. Floors are covered in granite. A complex cage system lets Sipek separate his animals or let them frolic together. Sipek goes without creature comforts, such as furniture, because his animals would tear it to pieces.
It's not the first fire at the house, Sipek said. In 1985, an arsonist twice lit fire to the place. The arsonist was never caught, he said.
Sipek's compound was scheduled for an inspection today,
but it's unlikely that will still happen, said Busch
Wildlife Sanctuary Executive Director David Hitzig,
who was at the compound to get it ready for the inspection
when the fire started.
"The fire interrupted everything," Hitzig
said.
State Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Lt.
Charles Dennis went to Sipek's house Monday after the
fire for an emergency evaluation and Sipek was permitted
to stay there with the animals.
The 40 people at at Sipek's house Monday afternoon
to prepare it for inspection cooperated with firefighters,
said Capt. Don DeLucia.
But there remained evidence of bad blood. Posted high on a pole down the street from Sipek's house -- where some sheriff's deputies and wildlife officials gathered during the fire -- was a sign featuring a photo of cartoon character Tony the Tiger and the words: "WANTED by Florida Fish & Game (sic) Bobo the Tiger Dead or Alive."
Kevin Stevenson of Wellington had been going to the compound for the past few days to help with any work needed to ensure Sipek is up to code for his inspection.
Sipek admitted Monday night that he wasn't doing too
well. But his cats were holding up.
"I just looked at my baby (the black panther);
she just looked back at me. We're okay."
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