Braun Seafood Open Wednesday After Fire

CUTCHOGUE, NY — Despite a fire that tore through a storage building just hours earlier, Braun Seafood in Cutchogue was already back open for business Wednesday afternoon.

Owner Ken Holman and General Manager Keith Reda issued a statement: “The damage was done to an older area of the building. We are resuming business as usual in both Braun’s Grill and Braun's Fish Market. Wholesale will resume scheduled deliveries tomorrow.”

"Everything is back to normal, added Jen Lew, who handles marketing for the business. In fact, she said, staffers haven't lost their humor even in the face of the fire — they're offering a smoked salmon filet salad at Braun's Grill to add levity to the situation. "We want to keep it light," she said. "Everything is back to normal."

Heavy fire ripped through a back storage building at the popular Braun Seafood business in Cutchogue early Wednesday, officials said.

The Cutchogue Fire Department confirmed that the fire began at 3:07 a.m. and that no one was inside the back storage building, where the fire broke out.

The fire was kept under control and did not spread to the fish market or to-go seafood business in the main building, officials said.

Officials at the scene said it took about three hours to get the fire under control; Cutchogue, Mattituck, Southold, Greenport, and East Marion Fire Departments responded, with Riverhead providing support, as well.

Cutchogue Fire Department Chief Thomas Shalvey Jr. said the fire broke out in the back storage building of the business; the roof collapsed on that structure and the building — as well as the store and restaurant — sustained water damage, he said. One fire department member was treated for heat exhaustion, he said.

Other fire officials at the scene said the blaze was difficult to knock down because when the roof collapsed, the fire was trapped beneath.

The back storage building was completely totaled, according to fire department officials at the scene.

The cause of the fire was not immediately determined; the Suffolk County arson squad is on the scene conducting an investigation, officials said.