News

Aquarium flood has firefighters catching fish

A firefighter helps clean out a fish tank after a flood and ceiling collapse at the Team ECCO Ocean Center and Aquarium.

By Jan Chapin, Published: February 26, 2016

BJ Ramer woke up at 5:30 a.m. with a feeling that something was wrong.

Had she failed to plug in a filter at the Team ECCO Ocean Center and Aquarium that she owns and operates on Main Street? Were the fish OK? Had a tank sprung a leak?

"I threw on some sweat pants and drove into town," she said.

What she found stunned her. A major waterline break from the condominium upstairs had flooded the basement and most of the main floor of the aquarium and caused part of the ceiling to collapse. Three hours later, Ramer was surrounded by Hendersonville firefighters using buckets to catch fish and helping stabilize the situation as best they could.

When she arrived before dawn Ramer thought the flood was caused by the aquarium's water line. Then she realized it was coming from upstairs. When she couldn't reach the upstairs neighbors, she called Jeff Miller, a friend and City Council member. Miller called the fire department, which responded quickly and turned the water off and plunged in to the fray. Firefighters took down a part of the ceiling that posed a hazard.

The aquarium has a tremendous cleanup ahead, she said. Six or seven fish have perished and other saltwater fish could die from exposure to fresh water for a period of hours. By midmorning, Ramer had reached the Mountains to Sea Aquarium in Asheville, which agreed to send aquarium saltwater for the fish and other marine life. She described the survivors as "traumatized." Luckily, it appeared predator fish ordinarily separated from other fish had not managed to attack any prey.

By midmorning a crew from Servicemaster had arrived to vacuum up water and work on the cleanup.

Four hours after the call, firefighters were still on the scene, helping to clean tanks.

"What these guys are doing is unbelievable," Ramer said.

Ramer, who runs the aquarium with a small paid staff and a corps of volunteers, said she was trying to get some of her high school interns in to help with the fish rescue and cleanup. Because the aquarium has a security camera, Ramer thinks she will be able to pinpoint when the leak started and how long the fish were out of their saltwater environment.

"We’re going to have to close for a while," she said.