Chester County man who died in Sunday fire took care of exotic animals

FORT LAWN, S.C. — A Chester County man was killed early Sunday morning in a fire in an outbuilding near his home.

Tim Seegars, who is known for taking care of exotic animals, was found dead after fire officials battled the barn fire on Seegars Road in Fort Lawn, South Carolina.

The fire is under investigation, but investigators believe it may have been electrical.

Seegars, at one time, had dozens of wild animals, including tigers, bears, camels and orangutans. Many of those animals appeared in movies and on television.

Channel 9 reporter Greg Suskin talked to Seegars' two sons, Jacob and Matt, about what it was like living in a jungle-like home.

A European eagle owl is just one of the exotic animals Jacob Seegars is caring for. A few feet from that pen, is a much bigger one where “Boo Boo,” a huge black bear walked right up to Channel 9’s cameras and greeted Seegars at the fence.

It was a normal childhood to him.

"I didn't think it was too much of a big deal, but I always had to stop and think about it, they've never even seen a tiger unless they've seen it on TV or something like that,” Jacob Seegars said.

Tim Seegars once had 14 tigers on his property. Some of them were in commercials, movies and late night TV shows.

"Johnny Carson show, and he would do like 'Good Morning America,' and they would have him on there and a lot of appearances with Jim Fowler being his animal wrangler,” Matt Seegars said.

Channel 9 was introduced to Seegars in 2007 when a fire near his home threatened the animals. Chopper 9 flew over that scene and Seegars said all the animals he loved were safe.

Seegars later created a nonprofit called “Animals that Educate,” which teaches about respect for wildlife.

"There's a lot of shows and movies that you can look to his credit, but a lot of things that you don't hear about are the educational programs and the lectures that he did,” Matt Seegars said.

Most of the animals were given away years ago, but Seegars' sons hope to carry on his legacy.

"Makes me feel bad, sad for him, but besides that, he lived a good life,” Jacob Seegars said.

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