OBX House Fire Crimps Vacation For Fredericksburg Man

FREDERICKSBURG, VA—While at the Outer Banks of North Carolina this week, Fredericksburg resident Stephen Simon's family vacation literally went up in flames. A two-alarm fire early Thursday afternoon gutted his rental cottage in Waves at Sea Isle Hill Drive on Hatteras Island.

No one was injured but Simon and three others barely got out safely. He told the Island Free Press he had been outside cleaning up around the pool in the hour or so before the fire started when he heard an odd sound he thought was wind. Seconds later, he looked up and saw an entire wall in the ground-level basement in flames.

"We all met in the foyer and got out safely," Simon said. "[One guest] who was upstairs came running downstairs from the kitchen with a knife in his hand, because he was in the middle of making a steak sandwich. By the time we got down the steps and outside, it was everywhere."

The fire was reported around 1 p.m., and less than an hour later, according to The Outer Banks Voice, the roof and one wall of the home had collapsed. Water pressure issues caused by an undersized pipe feeding the nearest hydrant hindered firefighters, and tanker trucks were summoned to aid the effort. The fire was extinguished at 2:51 p.m.

Simon, who's there with his extended family from both Fredericksburg and Baltimore, said on his Facebook page that "the real estate company set us up nice," regarding replacement lodging. He also posted numerous during-and-after photos.

The causes of the fire is unknown, Dare County Fire Marshall Steve Kovacs told the Island Free Press, adding it may take several days to determine what happened because of the extensive damage.

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Photo and video used with permission of the Island Free Press