MARBLEHEAD — The lights are off at Terry's Ice Cream on School Street. Instead of the usual chatter and brightly lit counter, Terry's is dark and silent — a visitor is now instantly greeted by the lingering and constant smell of smoke from last Wednesday's fire.
Both Terry's and neighboring 5 Corners Kitchen want to reopen. 5 Corners owner Barry Edleman is trying to look on the bright side.
"There is really not much anyone can do except wait," he said. "My plan is to try to enjoy this time off as much as I can. It's the only time off I'm going to get in the next 10 years."
Marblehead fire Capt. Michael Porter said the fire was likely caused by an electrical issue in the ceiling of the ice cream store.
"They figure it was burning up above them for a little while," Porter said.
Firefighters were forced to cut holes in the ceiling in order to contain the blaze and call in a second alarm for backup.
The fire traveled, likely through the walls, to the basement, where Edleman was called by some of his employees notifying him of smoke.
"We were all there, myself and the kitchen staff," he said. "The fire alarm went off ... near where it started in the basement. My guys that were prepping in the basement had a fire extinguisher in hand."
The smoke, however, was bad, and a fire extinguisher wasn't going to work against an established blaze.
"It happened all pretty quickly; there was a ton of smoke. It was nasty," Edleman said, adding that the smoke in the basement made him feel like he might pass out. "Fire is not like what they show in the movies."
He said the damage was so bad at his restaurant that an outlet on the first floor showed significant smoke damage even though it was about 40 feet from the blaze.
No injuries were reported from the fire.
Darisse Romano is an insurance adjuster with Seltser & Goldstein Public Adjusters Inc. She was deep inside Terry's Ice Cream with Sandra Rocha, the daughter of ice cream store owner Terry Rocha, yesterday afternoon surveying the damage to the property.
"It's hard," Rocha said. "It's a loss, but nobody got hurt, that's the main concern, and we can't wait to open again."
Rocha praised her customers. "They can't wait till we reopen. They are very supportive. The town of Marblehead is very supportive."
Edleman agreed. "The guests that have been coming to my restaurant for the last year, they took (the fire) personally.
"(The restaurant) was something that they felt was their place, as well. To me, even though there is not much they can do right now, it's nice to have that support," he said.
Edleman said reopening will be easier than the original grand opening. "When I saw the smoke throughout the restaurant, I knew exactly what was going on. OK, this has turned into a really big thing. I was sitting there devastated, but actually, I was OK.
"I built that place out of nothing. When I started this restaurant, we had no money, the banks would not give us a loan. I did this on credit cards, borrowing from friends and family ... but we had a good year. We are going to reopen."
In the meantime, Edleman will be offering cooking classes and private dinners.
Edleman said he won't open as quickly as possible because he wants to make sure everything is fully up to standard.
"No way I'm going to open a restaurant with even a hint of smoke in it," he said. "It could be two months, it could be five."
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