Well-known Stanly County seafood restaurant reopens a year after massive fire

STANLY COUNTY, N.C. — A longtime Stanly County restaurant has reopened a year after a massive fire gutted it.

Chopper 9 Skyzoom flew over the scene last January as firefighters worked to put out the flames at Jay’s Seafood Restaurant in Albemarle.

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Ned Stallings, the owner, told Channel 9 the building on Stony Gap Road has housed the seafood restaurant since 1956.

Now, the community can once again enjoy their food.

On Jan. 3 of last year, crews first reported the multi-alarm fire around 7:45 a.m. The first units arrived within eight minutes, officials said.

Fifteen departments responded from Stanly, Cabarrus, and Montgomery counties.

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At the time, Stallings said he didn’t know what could’ve caused the fire.

“We have no idea because, we’re just open Thursday through Sunday and when we leave here, we turn everything off, breakers, electricity, because I’ve always been afraid we would have something like this,” Stallings said.

Stalling’s family took over the business in 1967 and he has been working there ever since. He plans to hand it down to his son, John Stallings, who is the manager.

“It was sad and terrible because that’s all we do is this fish house,” John Stallings said. “And I didn’t like seeing it like that.”

It took about 90 firefighters just over three hours to control and there were no reported injuries.

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