Westport Bridal Shop Hopes To Reopen After 'Horrific' Fire

WESTPORT, CT — The owner of a Westport bridal shop is hoping to rebuild and reopen as soon as possible following a "horrific" fire Saturday morning.

Alison Luciano, owner of The Plumed Serpent Bridal at 246 Post Road East, said Tuesday she did not have a timeframe for when the store will reopen yet.

"It is definitely going to be a process for us," Luciano said, "because it's not just the walls, the floors...it's all the inventory as well that needs to be replaced. It's not going to be a quick turnaround."

Over the weekend, Westport Fire Department Assistant Chief Philip Hessberger said in a news release the structure fire broke out at the store around 6 a.m.

Crews quickly located and extinguished the blaze and cleared the building of smoke. No additional fire was found after an extensive search and overhaul of the building, Hessberger said.

Wilton, Norwalk and Fairfield fire departments, as well as Westport police and EMS, provided assistance. No injuries were reported and the Fire Marshal's Office ruled the blaze to be accidental, Hessberger said.

"The Westport Fire Department would like to remind the public that smoke detectors save lives and property, candles should never be left unattended and everyone should have an exit plan in the event of an emergency," Hessberger said in a news release.

According to Luciano, most of her brides' dresses were not in the store at the time of the fire. Dresses for brides with weddings this month were receiving alterations in a different part of the building, and other dresses ready for pick were in another room that received little to no smoke damage.

"We haven't really been able to go in an examine all of them," Luciano said, "but from what we could tell and see, they look like they came out of this unscathed."

She also thanked the Westport Fire Department for their quick arrival and work extinguishing the fire Saturday.

"It's because of their quick and efficient work that the brides' dresses that were in another part of the store were able to be saved and not have any damaged to them," Luciano said. "To me, they are the heroes of this story. Our brides owe them a huge debt of gratitude, because they were able to save their dresses."

While some of the store's inventory and the building itself was damaged by the fire, Luciano said she was mostly relieved no one was hurt and her brides' dresses were alright.

Currently, the store's number one priority is taking care of its brides, however Luciano hopes to have a clearer idea of what needs to be done to repair the walls of her business in a week or so.

"The heart of the business, we still have," Luciano said, "we just don't have the walls of the business."

She noted some local businesses and the Westport-Weston Chamber of Commerce, as well as a number designers of bridal stores from across the country, have reached out to her since Saturday to offer their support and help.

In an email Wednesday, chamber president Matthew Mandell wished the store a speedy recovery and said he really felt for any brides who may have lost gowns in the fire.

"This is just a terrible occurrence, Mandell said. "I am hoping the insurance covers this loss."

Having owned the store for over 20 years, and recently having survived the nationwide business struggles caused by the ongoing coronavirus crisis, Luciano said she is confident the fire is just another setback the store will be able to move forward from.

"We will absolutely rebuild and come out of this," Luciano said. "This is a blip, and it's only going to make us stronger and better, and it's going to make the store better. The worst that we could ever possibly deal with, we're dealing with. If we can get through that, we can get through anything else."