Keyport landmark destroyed by flames
Cigarette apparent cause of fire; owners plan to rebuild
BY KAREN E. BOWES
Staff Writer

KAREN E. BOWES The Keyport Fishery on West Front Street caught fire Saturday night, destroying the 100-plus-year-old building's roof. At left, firefighters battle a quick spreading blaze at the Keyport Fishery. Authorities said the building is no longer functionable.

A cigarette appears to be the cause behind the Saturday night blaze that destroyed the Keyport Fishery, a historic and popular downtown restaurant.

Police say the West Front Street fire appears accidental.

"They think that a cigarette, maybe thrown on the curb, [fell] into an opening between the sidewalk and the building," Police Detective Capt. Thomas Mitchell said on Monday. "They think the cigarette rolled down there."

Estimates on how old the local landmark is vary, but the building is said to be at least 100 years old. Borough Historian Jack Jeandron believes it was built sometime between 1860 and 1880, although its current owners say the deed dates it back to 1900.

The wood-frame building originally acted as one of the town's many oyster shucking plants, according to Jeandron. The structure became an eatery in 1936, remaining operational until Saturday night.

Owners Michael and Barbara Nosti, of Middletown, say they plan to rebuild and are hoping to reopen in six months.

Mitchell said it was unknown who dropped the lit cigarette, "whether it was a customer or an employee" or a passing pedestrian. Regardless, the building is no longer "habitable or operable," Mitchell said.

The last order

Marjorie Seckinger, of Keyport, was inside the building when it caught on fire. She had just placed an order for haddock and was waiting for her number to be called.

"I paid my $37," Seckinger said, but she never got her haddock. A distant alarm went off, Seckinger said, but nobody paid attention.

"We thought it was someone's car alarm," Seckinger said. "Nobody really paid any attention to it. It was coming from outside the building."

A moment later, "the owner started running around," Seckinger said, and an employee grabbed a fire extinguisher and ran out. Before long, both ran back into the building to retrieve another extinguisher.

KAREN BOWES The smell of smoke was still in the air on Sunday afternoon, a full day after the Keyport Fishery caught fire. Owners plan to rebuild.

"It was not back in the kitchen where you thought it would be," Seckinger said, describing the fire's origin. "It was on the outside wall."

After first noticing small flames, everyone exited the building in an orderly fashion.

"We just watched it for a little bit. We weren't in any hurry because we thought we'd just amble outside for a little bit and then amble back in," she said. "Nobody in that building was panicking. Nobody. Except the owner. I think he realized he had a problem."

Once outside, the patrons watched the fire spread.

"We saw that there were more flames around the door where I was [waiting inside]. Then we realized that it was going to be serious," she said.

"There was a woman in there the same time I was and she hadn't placed her order yet. She was standing there, reading the menu."

Once outside, Seckinger saw the same woman being treated by an ambulance crew.

"She was barely able to stand up. It wasn't the smoke or anything. Maybe she was just panicking at the thought of how close she was to being in there," she said.

From the time the alarm sounded to the time she exited, less then 10 minutes passed, Seckinger said.

"We were out of the building in a minute to a minute in a half from the time I saw flames," she added.

"What went fast was after we left the building," she said. "The fire went up the wall into the attic."

"It was very quiet. A very quiet fire. Then it started making all the smoke, billowing, billowing, dark smoke."

A "strange" wedding scene

A wedding reception happened to be in full swing at the time of the fire, directly across the street at the Ye Cottage Inn. Councilman George Walling was father of the groom. Councilman Joe Wedick attended the party as a guest.

"We were sitting there and it was really weird - people dancing to the Village People and watching this fire take place," Wedick said. "It was really strange ... A strange way to mark the day."

For Walling, the day was bittersweet.

"It was a happy moment for our family," Walling said of his son George's wedding to Brooke Sharp, "and a sad moment for our town."

"Fortunately, nobody was hurt. Thank God for that," Walling said.

Of the fire itself, Wedick said, "It was quite the sight." The flames were high and the smoke was very thick, he said.

"Fortunately, it was blowing the other way," he said.

The mayor responds

Mayor John Merla was one of the first to arrive on the scene, happening upon the fire before police or fire trucks had a chance to respond.

He was working nearby at the Bulkhead Bar & Grille, a business owned by his family, when he noticed the blaze, he said on Monday.

"I just saw flames shooting through the roof," Merla said. "I thought, you've got to be kidding me."

Merla, along with his brother, Joseph Merla, quickly got involved, directing traffic for three hours until the blaze was extinguished, he said.

Merla pointed out that the curbside building has survived "about 50 floods and two or three hurricanes, and some accidental fire levels it."

"It's a shame," Merla said. "It really is."

Like many others who grew up in the area, the mayor said he associates "a lot of memories" with the Keyport Fishery.

He recalled how his late mother, the former owner of a nearby pizza parlor, often baked lasagna for the fishery's former owners, the Wilsons.

"I've been going there probably 40 years," Merla recounted.

While helping to direct traffic, Merla said it was difficult to know what to say to the current owners as they watched the building burn.

"I couldn't even look at them," Merla said.

Rebuilding

"We're going to definitely rebuild," said Barbara Nosti, who co-owns the establishment with husband Michael Nosti.

"We're not going to tear it down," she added. "We'll try to keep as much as possible."

That includes the original tin walls and ceiling, she said.

"We're very devastated, my husband and I," added Mrs. Nosti, "but we'll do the best we can."

Old photos of the place, passed down from the previous owners, were destroyed in the fire. Luckily, those same owners, Bob and Peggy Wilson, kept a duplicate set of the photographs and plan to frame them in time for the reopening, Mrs. Nosti said.

The couple is currently working with their insurance company on the matter. A trash receptacle will arrive sometime this week for gutting the building, she said.