A wind-driven fire consumed part of the oyster processing section of Rappahannock Oyster Company in Topping on Saturday. However, Merroir, the company’s seafood restaurant, remains open.
The emergency call went out at 7:20 a.m. as the remnants of Tropical Storm Ophelia dumped rain and blew a strong north wind across the Rappahannock River and up Locklies Creek.
Fire was visible when the first firefighters arrived on scene on Locklies Creek Road. “The wind was really driving the fire,” said Kevin McNamee, chief of the Hartfield Volunteer Fire Department (HVFD). “The rain was so heavy you could not see across the river.”
Fortunately, the wind pushed flames away from the restaurant and other buildings at the complex that raises and markets oysters, Chief McNamee explained. The damaged dock is across a parking area from the restaurant.
It took firefighters about 45 minutes to bring the blaze under control.
The oyster processing plant, located on a wooden dock, was a total loss. Chief McNamee did not speculate on the cause of the fire. The bow of a fiberglass skiff was damaged slightly.
Two trucks and firefighters from the HVFD rushed to the blaze. They were backed up by a tanker and pumper from the Lower Middlesex Volunteer Fire Department of Deltaville, and a tanker from the Middlesex Volunteer Fire Department, located in Urbanna.
“We had a good turnout,” said Chief McNamee.
