Update: Port Royal seafood market lost in Sunday morning blaze + aftermath video

The seafood market and shrimp-packing equipment tied to Port Royal's iconic shrimp docks burned early Sunday morning, casting doubt on the future of a town operation that had recently seemed to turn the corner.



The entire market at the end of 11th Street was lost in the blaze, only three weeks after opening to the public. The adjacent warehouse was damaged as flames tried to cross the roof and 11th Street Dockside restaurant suffered water and smoke damage from firefighters battling to contain the blaze.



A car parked near the market appeared to have been completely burned in the fire.



A call came in about 5:40 a.m. after a driver on the Russell Bell Bridge spotted flames.



"It's burnt down; it's gone," said dock and market manager Joey Morris, who said he received a call about the fire at 8 a.m. "Everything."



The cause and origin of the fire wasn't immediately known. A S.C. Law Enforcement Division arson investigator was on the scene Sunday, working with local fire and police investigators.



Firefighters and Port Royal police expected to work the scene most of the day. Port Royal Mayor Samuel E. Murray talked with firefighters and police in front of the burned structure Sunday morning.



The lost equipment included a new freezer, refrigerator, scale and an ice machine that produced 7,000 pounds of ice each day, Morris said. He said he plans to put together a complete list of inventory for town manager Van Willis on Monday.



Willis said the priority is getting Dockside open as quickly as possible and its employees back to work.



He said the town would work with its insurance carrier and try to get the seafood operation back up as quickly as possible.



"It's certainly pretty hard to deal with," he said.



The market had been remodeled this past winter in preparation for its reopening. Equipment had been purchased over the past couple of years as Morris worked to build the operation.



The town buys the shrimp from shrimpers as it comes in and packs and sells the inventory to large buyers in South Carolina and Georgia from the 11th Street docks it leases from the S.C. State Ports Authority. The market fronting the operation sold shrimp and fresh fish and recently reopened to the public for the first time in years.



The docks had long been a financial burden for the town since taking over from the Ports Authority in 2009, losing money each year. But as of June, the operation was poised to break even or make money for the first time and $500,000 has been budgeted for the docks in the current fiscal year.



"I'm trying to run it for them just like it's mine," said Morris, who has been manager two years. "I did the best I could to keep it going"



Now the future of the operation is in doubt.



Wind blowing from Battery Creek into the open-air area in the back of the building likely fueled the flames, Beaufort-Port Royal Fire Department spokesman John Robinson said.



Firefighters were on the scene at 5:45 a.m. and had the fire under control within an hour, Robinson said. Focus was on saving the warehouse and restaurant.



"Our concern was saving that property that was still saveable," Robinson said.

• Port Royal shrimp docks out of red , June 12, 2015 

This story was originally published July 19, 2015 at 12:37 PM with the headline "Update: Port Royal seafood market lost in Sunday morning blaze + aftermath video."