Goldfish survive North Bay wildfire, friends want to reunite with rightful owners

SANTA ROSA, Calif. - Two days after Tubbs Fire erupted in his hometown of Santa Rosa, Logan Hertel and his friends meandered past barricades to hunt through the rubble. They discovered a dozen goldfish that survived the Oct. 8 wildfire swimming in an outdoor tub full of toxic ash.

They scooped up the fish in a bowl, and now the fish are at Hertel's dad's house, awaiting a reunion with their rightful owners.

“I could picture myself in their shoes,” the 21-year-old student at Santa Rosa Junior College first told the Mercury News, “and knowing that if I lost everything, even knowing something this small is alive would be kind of important to me.”

Hertel and his buddies know the fish belong to someone. They brightly colored fish were swimming in a bathtub-turned-outdoor pond at the intersection of Parker Hill Road and Parker Hill Court in the Hidden Valley Neighborhood.

The surviving fish were eating pieces of ash that had fallen into the tub, the Mercury News reported. 

Hertel took the fish to his home, first to a large kitchen pot, and now, in a large plastic tub at his dad's house. "They seem a lot more upbeat now," Hertel told KTVU on Wednesday.

Still, despite his  mother putting up signs around town and the recent media attention, Hertel has not yet been able to pair the fish with their guardians.

If you know who the fish belong to, email Hertel at loganhertel@hotmail.com