The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Fire at Marino’s ruled accidental
“It is always devastating when a local business experiences such a tragic loss of property.” Mayor Elinor Carbone
TORRINGTON — The fire at Marino’s Restaurant Thursday has been ruled accidental, according to Fire Marshal Edward Bascetta.
According to a release from the Torrington Fire Department, firefighters were dispatched for a structure fire at the restaurant at about 8:56 a.m. The blaze was brought under control by 9:36 a.m., but the building was destroyed.
Bascetta said Friday that the fire began in the kitchen. Food being cooked in two frying pans ignited, and the suppression system for the stove was unable to keep control of the flames.
Community residents expressed sorrow and sympathy for the Marino family in the wake of the fire.
“It is always devastating when a local business experiences such a tragic loss of property. Marino’s has existed at that location since the 1960’s. Carmela Marino is a Carbone. I have known her, Chris and Cheryl all my life. A wall in the back dining room is covered with photos of the Carbone and Marino families dating back generations,” said Mayor Elinor Carbone in a statement after the fire.
“The Marino family is among the hardest working members of our community that I know. Whenever I walked into the restaurant, I would find Carmela sitting in the pub area, welcoming patrons and making them feel like family. It is like stepping back in time when business owners
knew their customers and made you sit with them to catch up on kids and jobs and life in general. I am heartbroken for the Marino family – I can only imagine their sorrow.”
Representatives of For the Love of Jack, a local nonprofit devoted to helping animals in need, offered love and support to the family in a statement on Facebook Thursday.
“Today they lost their beautiful family owned restaurant to a fire. Marino’s opened in 1957, that means that this has always been a HOME for Chris and Cheryl, secondgeneration, brother and sister owners. Some may say ‘it’s just a restaurant, they can rebuild’, but this has been their other home. So many memories, old family photos, all of those very same most valuable things one loses when they lose their home to fire,” said representatives of the organization. “We have been blessed with their and their staffs friendship and support of our organization over the years, holding our annual pasta dinner there.”
“Cheryl, Chris and staff, we are so sorry, we love you and we wish there were something we could do to make this nightmare go away.”