BY NICOLE BOWMAN-LAYTON

HERTFORD – The faint smell of burnt wood lingered in the air nearly 14 hours after a blaze devastated Captain Bob’s Barbecue and Seafood restaurant in Hertford.

On Thursday, May 22, a fire destroyed much of the long-standing restaurant, leaving the community reeling from the loss. The blaze, which reportedly began in the smokehouse, sometimes called the pit, quickly spread, casting a large cloud of smoke visible from miles away.

A Perquimans County Sheriff’s deputy safely evacuated customers and staff from the restaurant, which was open at the time of the fire. A customer who was at the restaurant at the time, commended staff members for keeping people calm during the incident. The person described smelling something burning, then seeing clouds of smoke which rapidly turned black before a sheriff arrived to evacuate the premises.

No injuries were reported.

According to the Herford Fire Department, at 5:34 p.m. Thursday, the agency, along with the Winfall and Bethel Fire Departments, responded to the fire. All are volunteer fire departments.

Upon arrival at 5:39 p.m., personnel found that the barbecue pit cookhouse was fully engulfed in flames, and the fire spread into the main restaurant building.

About 50 firefighters battled the fire while contending with wind gusts up to 20 miles per hour.

During their time at the scene, crews searched for and extinguished hot spots. The Hertford Fire Department worked alongside the Bethel, Winfall, and Inter-County Volunteer Fire Departments. The agencies were supported by Perquimans Emergency Services and the Perquimans County Sheriff’s Office.

In a statement, the HFD extended “its sympathies to the Captain Bob’s restaurant family, acknowledging their significance within the local community.”

Captain Bob’s, located at 310 Ocean Highway S in Hertford, is a family-owned business started by Bobby and Sharon Lane, who have been in the barbecue and seafood business for around 20 years. The restaurant itself has been in business since 1984, moving to its current location in 1995. The Lanes have owned the Hertford restaurant for about 19 years.

The restaurant’s two cookers could cook up to 150 hog shoulders at a time – almost 3,000 pounds of meat. The cookers were also used for barbecuing ribs and chicken. Upon request, Captain Bob’s could smoke a pig, according to the company’s website.

The restaurant’s two catering trailers were moved away from the fire on Thursday. When the Albemarle Observer visited the property on Friday morning, the trailers looked undamaged.

Brandy Christian, identifying as an employee, posted that the restaurant is “gone” but confirmed the crew is okay.

On Friday, workers confirmed that the fire started in the smoke pit and went out of control.

The damage appears primarily focused on the smokehouse, which is now just a burnt frame, and the windows on the left side of the main building closest to the smokehouse are broken out. The interior in that area was black and covered in soot.

While a door was propped open on Friday morning as to air out the building, the faint smell of burnt wood and smoke still lingered.

The loss extends far beyond the physical structure. Captain Bob’s was widely recognized as a cornerstone of the Hertford community and the wider region.

It served as a community hub, a place where families and friends gathered, and a location for numerous fundraisers and events. The restaurant’s food was a staple, often served at Rotary Club meetings, church gatherings, chamber of commerce fundraisers, high school sports fundraisers, and grand openings.

Captain Bob’s also provided food for the Meals on Wheels program through a contract with the Albemarle Commission Area Agency on Aging. No word yet as to how that program will be impacted.

Its conveniently visible location on Ocean Highway – US 17 – made it a well-known place for everyone.

Many community members shared the deep personal significance of the restaurant on social media. One person described it as the only place for authentic barbecue in the area outside of traveling to the Outer Banks or Currituck when they moved to Edenton in 2017, noting the food was consistently excellent. For others, it held treasured memories, such as going for breakfast with a late grandparent who had “his table” and interacting with waitresses who felt like family.

The loss feels profound to many, described as like losing a family member or a piece of childhood. With no other local restaurants open from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., seven days a week or chain substitutes available, Hertford has lost a unique gathering place.

Hertford Councilwoman Connie Brothers said losing Captain Bob’s is a great loss for Perquimans County and the surrounding communities.

“We are trusting and believing God for a greater comeback,” she said. “I’m grateful to know no one received any injuries. We can always rebuild, but never can a person be replaced. I stand ready to support Sharon and Bob in whatever it takes by the grace of God.”

From Travis Lane, a Hertford resident who is not related to the owners. His grandfather mentioned below is Archie Lane, aka Big T:

Pray for my little town today. I know some of you who may live in bigger cities won’t understand the significance of what happened to little ole’ Hertford, NC last night. Captain Bob’s was a staple of this community. One of my greatest memories in life was going with my late grandpa to Captain Bob’s for breakfast. He had a table that “was his table”. The waitresses would always try to give him as much crap back as he was dishing at them. Some of those same waitresses to this day I will see out in public and they will stop and give me a hug. We don’t have anymore local restaurants that are open all day, 7 days a week. We don’t have a chain restaurant that we can go to as a substitute. We don’t have anywhere else that people can go and eat fried chicken at the Sunday buffet after church with their families. So you may say, “It’s just a restaurant,” but you’d be missing how much this place means to this community. So yes, pray for this community today, because it has lost something that in this neck of the woods brings families together. A lot of us feel like we lost a family member yesterday.

An outpouring of support and prayers has flooded in for the owners, Bobby and Sharon Lane, their family, and the entire staff.

Local businesses and organizations like Mamasita’s restaurant in Edenton, the Edenton-Chowan Chamber of Commerce, Perquimans Chamber of Commerce and Inner Banks Real Estate group expressed their thoughts and prayers, offering help and hoping for a swift rebuilding.

During the emergency response, the Hertford McDonald’s showed “incredible generosity” by providing free sandwiches to the first responders who had been on the scene for nearly three hours, earning thanks from Perquimans Emergency Management.

As a sidenote, we first tried Captain Bob’s at a ribbon-cutting they catered in Edenton for the Edenton-Chowan Chamber of Commerce and a local bank that is now closed. Since then, we’ve seen the business support area youth by helping with fundraisers, and other businesses and organizations.

Their food was good – not the best I’ve ever had – but comforting. The staff always treated our family with respect, kindness and like we were part of the family. Watching their interactions with other customers, you could see that Captain Bob’s was a place with regulars – they knew your order, let you sit at your special table, etc.

I last ate a meal catered by them earlier this week. To think it was my last – hopefully for just a little while – kind of hurts. We will keep them in our thoughts as they work to recover from this situation.

Editor’s note: Updated at 3:40 p.m. May 23 to include information from the Hertford Fire Department.