Exotic Birds Lost in Kilgore Fire

KILGORE — A Kilgore man is dealing with the loss of hundreds of exotic birds in a Sunday afternoon fire in a building next door to his home. Tommy hayes has been keeping the birds there for 33 years. Hayes, his friends, and his son tried to rescue the birds and other animals but could only save a few. To Hayes, these were more than just pets. “This is not money here,” he says. “This is what we do because of what we love to do.” Hayes says he’s been getting phone calls from people outraged that he kept so many birds next to his house. But he showed KETK he’s licensed to raise the birds, along with inspection reports from the city. He says he’ll keep the birds that survived the fire.