A hearth has killed "nearly all" of the animals at a wildlife centre in Florida, in response to its "devastated" workers.

The fireplace broke out on the Alligator and Wildlife Discovery Center in Madeira Beach, Pinellas County, at round 3am on Thursday.

The centre, on Florida's west coast, was house to round 250 animals, together with lizards, turtles, alligators, and a few mammals.

Many of the animals on the centre had been pet rescues.

"We suffered from a tragic fire last night," workers on the centre mentioned in a publish on Facebook.

"Nearly all the animals are gone. We are devastated."

Read extra from Sky News:Malaria reported in Texas and FloridaPeople leave animals behind during wildfire in Spain

Sonny Flynn, who owns the centre, instructed native new station WTSP that almost all of the mammals contained in the constructing died and most of the reptiles had been injured.

"They didn't deserve this. This is my whole life," Ms Flynn mentioned.

"They all have names, they all have personality, I come in every morning and talk to them like Dr. Dolittle."

Flynn mentioned about 95 per cent of the animals on the centre had been "pet surrenders because people didn't know how to take care of them, or they weren't able to take care of them."

An investigation is underway to find out the reason for the fireplace.