By Kari Pugh
The Virginian-Pilot
KILL DEVIL HILLS, N.C. — Three people were killed and three others were injured in a fire early Friday that gutted an oceanfront home and damaged one other cottage in Kill Devil Hills, hours after another blaze destroyed a house in Duck.
Crews were called to the Friday morning blaze in the 1800 block of N. Virginia Dare Trail, known locally as Beach Road, before 2:30 a.m. and arrived to find a five-bedroom vacation house engulfed in flames. Carried by 15 to 17 mph winds, the fire spread to the home next door.
Three people died in the blaze and three others “required medical treatment,” said Rachel Tackett, spokesperson for the town.
The house where the fire started was destroyed and a home next door sustained minor damage. The people in that home were able to safely relocate. A third cottage was evacuated. Vacationers staying in that house said they woke up to police telling them to get out.
Property records show the home destroyed was owned by a Virginia Beach resident and built in 1948.
The Kill Devil Hills Fire Marshal, Dare County Fire Marshal, and the North Carolina Bureau of Investigations are investigating to determine the fire origin and cause. Firefighters remained on the scene after daybreak and the house continued to smolder. A news conference is scheduled for 10 a.m.
About eight hours earlier, a home in Duck was also destroyed by fire, this one believed to have started due to lightning.
Firefighters were called to the blaze in the 100 block of Beachcomber Court in the Four Seasons subdivision about 6:06 p.m.
“Although the cause of the fire is not yet confirmed at this time, it is believed to have originated from a direct lightning strike, as severe storms were present in the area,” the Town of Duck said in a news release.
Both occupants of the house safely evacuated along with their two dogs.
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