Fire damages Rosehill Seafood, restaurant reopens next day after arrest

Rosehill Seafood went from an early-morning fire to a next-day reopening, a fast turnaround that kept one of Columbus’ longtime fish houses in service after a jarring 25-minute damage window.

Columbus Fire and Rescue was dispatched to 2621 Hamilton Road around 7 a.m. on April 15, after fire officials said the blaze was reported at about 6:50 a.m. and extinguished by about 7:15 a.m. The fire was reported in the storage area on the property and did not significantly affect the dining room, a key reason the restaurant was able to get back up and running so quickly.

Owner Bufford King said he got a call around 7 a.m. that the restaurant was on fire and rushed to the scene, where firefighters were already there. King said surveillance video showed a suspect igniting flames on the left side of the building before leaving. The footage, he said, was gut-wrenching.

Police identified the suspect as Brandon Ghant, who was charged with first-degree arson and second-degree criminal damage to property. Ghant pleaded not guilty in Columbus Recorder’s Court on April 16. The arrest turned what could have been written off as an accident into a workplace crime, one that forced Rosehill’s employees and managers to deal with the disruption as soon as the fire was out.

For restaurant workers, the speed of the reopening mattered. A fire like this can erase a morning prep shift, throw food service into cleanup mode, and force managers to decide whether staff should be sent home, reassigned, or brought back once the building is safe. At Rosehill Seafood, the next-day reopening suggests the damage was contained enough to keep payroll, tips, and customer traffic moving, rather than leaving the team with a longer closure and a bigger hit to earnings.

The restaurant’s quick return also carried weight beyond the staff schedule. WRBL has described Rosehill Seafood as a popular fish house and gathering spot for more than 60 years, and it reopened under new management in August 2025. That history makes the fire more than a simple property damage story. It was a test of whether a reopened neighborhood restaurant could absorb a criminal act, reset the space, and welcome customers back almost immediately.