Fish survive aquatic lab fire in Cortlandville, says USGS official

A week after a third-alarm fire broke out at a federal fish research facility near the Cortland-Tompkins county line, all fish housed inside are alive and well, according to a government spokesperson. Voices are AI generated. The Ithaca Voice is not responsible for mispronunciations. The Tunison Laboratory building, operated by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), on Gracie Road in Cortlandville was deemed a total loss after the blaze tore through the facility on the evening of Nov. 5. Since then, the USGS has been working to determine the impact to their field station, which is dedicated to monitoring and protecting local ecosystems, and the effect on the aquatic life inside. Although the lab can house tens of thousands of fish at a time, only about 50 fish were inside the facility when the fire broke out, according to a Friday update from the USGS. The section of the building where the fish were housed in tanks sustained less damage. The fish have since been moved to tanks elsewhere on the site and are “doing well,” said USGS spokesperson Brian Hires. While there is still no power at the facility, the USGS said field staff have access to equipment and vehicles, and are able to maintain field operations. Efforts at the Tunison Lab inform the conservation, management and restoration of fisheries throughout the Great Lakes basin. Researchers study environmental impacts on fish such as bloater, cisco, lake sturgeon, lake trout and Atlantic salmon. Fire investigators determined the cause to be an electrical malfunction, according to the Cortlandville Fire Department. The facility was undergoing electrical upgrades, and the building’s automatic sprinkler system was impaired at the time, fire officials said. The firefight was a difficult one, as water was hard to come by due a lack of hydrants near the site, drawing assistance from multiple departments in Cortland and Tompkins counties. No firefighters or civilians were injured. More stories like this