NATCHEZ — On Friday evening the Natchez Fire Department responded to a fishy call.

Interim Chief Oliver Stewart said the call came from the owner of a fish pond who was in need of assistance.

The pond’s owner, Joe Pickett, said he called the fire department because he was concerned with the pond’s water and oxygen levels.

Pickett said since there has been so little rain lately the pond has not been replenished.

“It was starting to get a bit low,” he said.

Pickett said he thought the situation qualified as an emergency.

And concerned his stock of brim, catfish and bass would start to die, Pickett called the fire department.

Pickett would not say if he used the fishpond for recreation or as a means of income.

Stewart said the fire department responded to Pickett’s call for help to aerate the pond, not fill the pond.

Stewart said approximately 200 to 300 gallons of water were sprayed over the pond in an effort to mix oxygen into the pond, not as a means to raise the level of the pond.

And while Pickett said he was grateful for the fire department’s assistance, that assistance was not legal.

Natchez City Clerk Donnie Holloway said it’s a violation of Mississippi State Code for the city to make “a donation of service” like filling or aerating a pond.

Holloway cited an opinion from the attorney general that stated it was appropriate for the fire department to fill swimming pools but only if the pool’s owner compensated the city.

But Stewart said no payment was ever discussed.

“We were just helping him out,” Stewart said.

And Stewart said the department, while not regularly, and has helped in the past with similar requests.

The NFD recently assisted a woman whose well had run dry and was out of water, Stewart said.

Holloway said while the replenishment of the pond was technically against the law it’s not likely there will be consequence.

“No one’s going to get thrown in jail,” he said.

In the extremely unlikely event anyone would be prosecuted for Friday’s fish rescue, it would come as a surprise to Stewart.

Stewart said he was unaware that aerating Pickett’s pond was against the law.

“We were just trying to help,” Stewart said. “When people need help that’s what they do, they call the fire department.”