A major fire erupted at a Braun Seafood Co. storage building in Cutchogue early Wednesday, though president Kenneth Homan said he plans to swiftly reopen, possibly even clearing required inspections after just one day of arduous cleanups.
"It was gut-wrenching to say the least," Homan said by telephone. "I had to watch, I was here as fast as anybody and I had to watch the whole thing."
Homan expanded the area business his father bought in 1958 from George Braun — keeping the name because it signified quality — into an important source of fish and shellfish in the Northeast.
SEE PHOTOS Major fire at Cutchogue's Braun Seafood Co.
"This is my entire life I'm staring at in front of me right now, it’s been a lifetime," Homan said. "We're going to rebuild this and be back as fast as humanly possible."
The restaurant and store were spared, he said. But, taking no chances, he said hundreds of thousands of dollars of fish and shellfish that were in storage are being tossed. They were still tallying up the losses.
"We are as disheartened as anybody; we condemned everything ourselves," Homan said.
Some of the product that was ordered is being stored by competitors in their ice lockers. The arson squad has begun analyzing what caused the fire, and a cleaning company was expected to arrive Wednesday, he said.
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"Over 60 people work here during the course of the year," Homan said. "We want to get this going for everybody's benefit, for the community."
Consumers know Braun, founded in 1928, as one of Long Island’s best seafood markets and a North Fork landmark where a lunch of raw clams, fried scallops, grilled swordfish or broiled flounder can be enjoyed at one of the picnic tables looking out at the vineyards of the neighboring winery.
“They’re an institution out here,” Chief Tom Shalvey of the Cutchogue Fire Department said by telephone.
Firefighters at Braun Seafood Co. in Cutchogue on Wednesday morning. Photo Credit: Randee Daddona
The Suffolk County Board of Health will determine when sales can resume. The state Department of Agriculture and Markets also will weigh in, Homan said.
The blaze began shortly after 3 a.m. in a large storage building for boxes, the fire chief said. It was brought under control by about 6 a.m. by 75 to 100 firefighters from Cutchogue, Mattituck, Southold, Jamesport and East Marion.
“It didn’t get into the freezer [but] all the product is unusable,” Shalvey said. “The fire was above it, but all the water we poured on top of it went down.”
The scene was cleared by about 8:30 a.m., he said. Two firefighters, treated for heat exhaustion, have recovered.
Route 25 in Southold was closed from Depot Lane to Cox Lane for hours as a result of the fire, the state transportation department said, with all lanes reopened by about 8:25 a.m.
Early morning photographs show smoke billowing around a building at the site, with parts collapsed, revealing debris and various pieces of equipment.
Braun Seafood started out as an oyster-opening shop. After the 1938 hurricane destroyed Mattituck Inlet’s oyster beds, its owner, George Braun, and an associate, Jim Homan, switched to supplying fishermen with bait.
After buying the company, Homan expanded into growing and marketing Peconic Bay scallops in the 1980s.
Under his son’s leadership, Braun supplies scores of restaurants and fish stores with local scallops, tuna from New Jersey, harpooned swordfish from Canada, wild salmon from Alaska and farmed salmon from Scotland. Its retail store sells the same items.
Behind the retail counter and kitchen sprawls a wholesale operation dedicated to gathering the bounty of the East End — including swordfish, tuna and more — and sending it forth into the world of restaurants and seafood markets. Long Island’s commercial fishermen rely on Braun to buy their catch.
As a major distributor, Braun also resells seafood purchased at the Bronx's New Fulton Fish Market and from fisheries all over the country and the globe.
Six months ago, the third generation, Jim Homan, joined Braun Seafood, Homan said. His son had been a part-time employee for nine years, starting at age 14, before obtaining his law degree and practicing in Manhattan.
"He's hardworking and very excited," his father said. "We're going to rebuild and be better than ever."
