Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 18, 1990 TAG: 9007180373
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RON BROWN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
District Chief Jim Patton said the fish were flopping around on the floor when firefighters arrived at the 12:26 p.m. blaze, which burst an aquarium with its heat.
"We just scooped them up and threw them in the bathtub when we saw them," he said.
No one was injured, and the goldfish survived.
Patton said the fire, located in the 800 block of Pinewood Drive Northwest, took about five minutes to extinguish.
A couch and other living-room furniture burned after an electric cord, which powered the aquarium pump, among other items, overheated.
The fire was contained in the living room of the brick-veneered wood structure, but the rest of the house sustained heavy smoke damage. Patton estimated the damage at $20,000.
A neighbor using a garden hose had started fighting the blaze before firefighters arrived.
"The flames were shooting 3 or 4 feet out the front window," Patton said.
Still, he thinks that goldfish rescues are just part of the job.
"They were something still there breathing, I guess," he said. "You know how people get attached to pets."
by CNB