In the beginning of January, a devastating fire broke out at an industrial complex in Smithfield, destroying numerous businesses, including Stuarts Marine, a boat repair shop. Days after the fire, David Stuart, one of the owners, revealed the extensive damage to the business. A boat they were working on was completely unrecognizable, melted into the ground. Most of the shop’s metal turned to liquid and all tools were rusted. The shop could not be insured due to the many industrial businesses nearby that posed a fire hazard.
However, this disaster came at a difficult time for the Stuarts as David Stuart Sr., one of the owners, was recently diagnosed with terminal cancer. Despite this devastation, they managed to relocate thanks to support from a GoFundMe page and their community. They leased a new place not far from their old location and purchased new tools to restart their business.
Stuart is now focused on restoring their old custom tools through chemical treatments as many of them are irreplaceable. He noted that they will have to create some tools themselves throughout the year. The family also kept two boat engines destroyed in the fire as a reminder of how far they have come.
Although it has been challenging for them to rebuild their business during these trying times, Stuart remains determined to see it through and make it successful once again. Investigators later determined that
