Meatheads Meat Market in Milan back open after fire forced them to shut down

MILAN, Ill. (KWQC) - A fire broke out in Meatheads Meat Market last Thursday which forced owners to close the business to clean and restore it.

It happened during business hours in the afternoon starting in one of the shop’s smokers. Staff tried to put it out using special fire extinguishers on hand. When they were unable to contain it, multiple emergency service crews responded to prevent the fire from spreading to the one million square foot warehouse building the shop is connected to.

The health department responded to the scene as well to ensure food that was contaminated by the smoke would be disposed. Electricity to the shop had to be turned off because of the sprinkler system used to limit the spread of the fire. Meat in freezers and refrigerators were at risk of becoming spoiled.

Lisa Schafman is the co-owner of Meatheads with her husband, Bruce.

“Our people have been employed throughout this time,” said Schafman, “just helping partner with getting the cleanup taken care of.”

The business would be closed for six days before re-opening Wednesday morning after passing inspections. Schafman credits her staff and hired restoration services for the quick turnaround.

“What a staff we have,” said Schafman, “and it also takes a village, the people that were able to come in and help get us back on our feet.”

Schafman entered the business with her husband, Bruce, in 2010. He opened it in 2004.

“We’ve been here a long time,” said Schafman, “so we hope we’ve earned a lot of loyalty and we’d love to see new customers come in for the first time and just see what we have to offer to them.”

Schafman says they have insurance to cover the losses, but hopes customers will make extra stops at their shop or when they appear at the Freight House Farmers Market in Davenport on the weekends to help them earn more in order to re-stock their shelves back to full capacity. She says they are at the farmers market from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sundays. The farmers market runs every weekend through the end of October.

Copyright 2023 KWQC. All rights reserved.