Photo: Muzzy’s owner Dante Muzzioli greets a friend at the scene of the fire that destroyed his business on Thursday.

An early morning three-alarm fire on Thursday, May 14, destroyed Muzzy’s, a favorite of Belmont residents with its diner-inspired menu and outdoor seating, which made it a popular summer eating destination.

“It’s a complete loss,” said Dante Muzzioli, the Belmont business owner and high school hockey Hall of Fame coach who named the eatery using his popular nomignolo. 

“Well, it’s a sad day,” he said.

From the rain-soaked sidewalk across Trapelo, passersby and Muzzioli’s friends watched as fire crews continued working. While the structure’s white exterior walls were still intact, the interior was a blackened cavity from the fire that spread quickly from the basement to the first floor. 

“The whole floor is gone. Everything’s in the basement,” said Muzzioli as he inspected the damage with Belmont Fire personnel and spoke to contractors to board up the windows. 

For Muzzioli, the location was more than a business opportunity. Muzzy’s was his way of bringing a little bit of joy to people’s lives and his own.

“I look at it as my happy spot. And that’s really what it’s about. We’re living in a world that’s upside down. Some days, we’re all fighting politically about who believes in this and who believes in that. But when you come here and you see little kids eating ice cream, how can you not be happy.”

As the Belmont Fire Department was making a final inspection of the structure, Muzzioli greeted friends, hockey acquaintances, and people who casually knew ‘Muzzy’ to offer their condolences with handshakes and hugs.

“It’s been overwhelming,” said Muzzioli of the support he’s received in the few hours after the fire began. “It’s been incredible how many people have come here just to say how sad this all is or what they can do to help. I’ve received a text from [Belmont Select Board Chair] Matt Taylor, and [Select Board member] Carol [Berberian] showed up at 6:30 a.m. just because they cared.”

Muzzioli said he learned about the fire from one of his employees who was driving by the business and saw some smoke inside. After getting a closer look, he called 911 and his boss. But in mere minutes for the Belmont Fire Department to arrive, “the thing was pretty much engulfed.”

The Belmont Fire Department arrived on the scene at approximately 4:30 a.m., having received a report of heavy smoke coming from the building, said Belmont Fire Chief David DeStefano, who was at the scene during the afternoon cleanup.

“We made an aggressive interior attack and determined the fire to be located in the basement,” said DeStefano. While companies were trying to enter the basement, the main floor became unstable and in danger of collapse. 

“That’s when we withdrew our firefighters from the building” said DeStefano, at which time Belmont firefighters, along with mutual aid from Waltham, Cambridge, Arlington, and Watertown, went to defensive operations for the duration of the firefight.

As the primary conflagration was being brought under control, a gas-fed fire started due to a broken gas line, said DeStefano. “We contained that fire, and did not let it spread until National Grid was able to turn off the gas. At that point, we brought the remaining fire under control.”

But due to many hidden pockets of fire and hot spots, the fire remained only contained into the afternoon. The arrival of an excavator “allowed us to pull things apart, remove material from the building, and finally get to the deep-seated fire to bring about final extinguishment.”

A cause of the fire has not been determined, as fire inspectors have just begun their work, said DeStefano.

The four retail businesses in the one-story building that housed Muzzy’s had varied amounts of smoke and water damage, with Lucy Danger Hair suffering the bulk of the resulting loss.

Opened in 2012 at the intersection of Belmont Street and Trapelo Avenue, where a Brigham’s Ice Cream shop operated for many years. 

“I came here when I was a little kid, 12 years old, when this was a Brigham, riding bikes with his friends from Winn Brook to get a raspberry lime ricky.” 

Muzzioli – a lifelong Belmontian who owns a landscaping and construction company and coached Belmont High School Boys’ Hockey for four decades – became interested in the location as he saw the business deteriorate over the years. “It wasn’t the same place as I remembered it,” said Muzzioli.

As a lifelong entrepreneur, Muzzioli asked if putting a new ice cream store at the location was a viable situation, mimicking the Brigham’s ideas but putting some of his new concepts in place, including installing a grill that would support a diner-style menu. In the past decade and a half, the restaurant/ice cream business took off.

“It’s been great. The Fridays and Saturdays in the summer: packed, packed, packed. It’s a nice area to sit outside and eat ice cream, with a little piece of grass out here to manage kids and stuff like that,” he said.

Muzzy isn’t ready to accept defeat. 

I’m going to try to put a remote ice cream store here,” Muzzioli said, pointing to the green space untouched by the blaze. “So I’m going to work my tail off next few days and see if I can operate a little stand in here in the greenery.”