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Thousands of fish die in Columbia creek

Scientists are still unsure what exactly caused the death of nearly 14,000 fish in Columbia's Flat Branch Creek.
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Scientists are still unsure what exactly caused the death of nearly 14,000 fish in Columbia's Flat Branch Creek.

Thousands of fish from several different species were found dead in Flat Branch Creek on Monday. Rebecca O’Hearn, a scientist with the Conservation Department says roughly 14,000 fish were killed by runoff from a fire that happened at Business Loop 70 Plaza on April 1.

“It’s really unfortunate that all of them died and the department of conservation, we plan to continue to go out and check to see how fish are rebounding from this event," O'Hearn said.

O’Hearn says that even though the fire caused the fish kill, the department is unsure whether the fish were killed from the chemicals coming off of the fire or from the water used to extinguish the fire.  She says they’ll continue working on restoring aquatic life in the creek.