A vow to 'build back better' after Kings Park fire at Main Street Pub, Euro Barber Shop

Owners of two downtown businesses in Kings Park that suffered fire and water damage after a blaze erupted late Tuesday hope to reopen, but don't know yet when that will be possible.

Main Street Pub owner Scott McKinnon said Wednesday the business is "pretty much destroyed." 

The fire happened just days before what McKinnon said is the pub's "biggest day of the year" — when the annual Kings Park St. Patrick's Day parade, scheduled for Saturday, is held downtown.

The loss came two months after his father, Hugh McKinnon, who opened the business in 1994, died on Dec. 24. He was 81.

"I'm devastated," McKinnon said.

The blaze also damaged Euro Barber Shop, next door to the pub, with business co-owner Latife Tulu calling the shop "literally a 100% loss" on Wednesday.

"The walls are down, the ceiling is down … Part of the roof is burned — you can literally see through to outside," said Tulu, who owns the shop with her husband, Fahrettin Tulu.

At about 10:52 p.m. Tuesday, members of the Kings Park Fire Department noticed smoke coming from Main Street Pub, said Chief Philip Carroll. The department’s first engine arrived on the scene within three minutes and began an "interior attack" to battle the flames, Carroll said.

At around 11:50 p.m. Tuesday, a group of firefighters was atop the pub’s roof, one of whom cut square-shaped holes in the roof using a chain saw. Others remained inside the structure, operating multiple hose lines.

Onlookers, including some who had fled the bar, stood by and observed the firefighting efforts.

Lysa Scheer said she was bartending at Main Street Pub when she smelled smoke around 10:50 p.m. She peered into the kitchen and turned on the exhaust fan but the smell remained. After she saw smoke coming through a small hole that allows cable wires to connect to a television, she suddenly spotted flames in the rear of the business.

"We got everybody out," she said, standing on the street corner, looking up at the orange flames visible through a hole in the pub’s roof. "But in the whole bar, you wouldn’t know there was a fire going on."

First responders contained the blaze to the pub and the barbershop, which share a common cockloft, Carroll said. The fire was fully extinguished around 12:10 a.m. Wednesday.

Fire and smoke caused extensive damage to the pub and limited damage to the barbershop, Carroll said. Both buildings also sustained water damage, according to the chief.

More than 50 firefighters battled the fire, including members of the Commack, East Northport, Nesconset, Northport, Smithtown and St. James fire departments. 

"It’s due to their actions that this fire didn’t spread down Main Street," Carroll said, thanking both his members and those who arrived from other departments. "These are all attached structures here. They were able to contain it to the building of origin."

One firefighter was transported to a hospital for minor injuries, Carroll said. No other injuries were reported.

The cause of the fire remained under investigation Thursday by Town of Smithtown fire marshals and Suffolk County police, officials said.

"I'm going to just try to fight back and build back better," McKinnon said Wednesday of the pub. "That's my goal … Everything will work itself out."

Although the four barber stations at Euro are ruined, the couple has five other stations about a block away at Main Street Barber Shop — their first business, which they opened just over a decade ago. 

Fahrettin Tulu, or "Frank" as his clients know him, and the barbers who worked at Euro, which opened a few years later, will be able to cut hair at Main Street Barber Shop while he and his wife aim to rebuild their fire-damaged business as soon as possible.

"We've been there too long," Latife Tulu said Wednesday. "We know everyone, so we don't want to relocate."