Three dead, 3 injured after fire rips through home on NC’s Outer Banks, officials say

Three people are dead and three others were injured in an early-morning fire that destroyed an historic home on North Carolina’s Outer Banks.

The three dead were identified as: Colleen Cohan, 64, her husband William Deeg, 68, and Sienna Farr, 13, station WITN reports.

All are from Maryland and were renting the home at the time, officials said.

Callers reported the fire around 2:20 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 11, and noted it was spreading in the 1800 block of North Virginia Dare Trail in Kills Devil Hills, town officials said in a news release.

“Upon immediate response, it was determined that a home ... was fully engulfed in flames,” officials said.

“Due to the magnitude of the fire ... three fatalities have been reported and three additional patients required medical treatment. The home to the immediate south also sustained ... damage; however, its occupants were safely relocated.”

Two of the injured, both adults, were flown to hospitals for additional treatment and the third person (a teenager) “was treated locally and released,” according to Rachel Tackett, public information officer for Kill Devil Hills.

The four-bedroom home that burned was built in 1948 and it received historic designation in 2011, she said.

Video shared on social media shows the blaze was large enough to light the block and the flames were fanned by heavy wind gusts.

“We are staying a few houses down on the opposite side and woke up at around 2:40 (a.m.) and the house was completely engulfed,” one man posted on Twitter. “I’ve never seen anything like it. It was eerily quiet and there was only one fire truck there at that time. We did not hear any yells for help.”

A cause remains unknown, officials say.

A town and county investigation has been launched into the cause and will include the State Bureau of Investigation, officials said.

Inspectors say a home to the south of the fire suffered extensive damage and is considered unsafe for occupancy. A home to the north sustained minor damage, officials said. No injuries were reported among the occupants of the two nearby homes, officials said.

The 1800 block of North Virginia Dare Trail is lined with multi-story homes and hotels catering to tourists visiting the Outer Banks. Some homes along the street are nearly 3,000 square feet and sell for around $1.1 million, according to Realtor.com.

This story was originally published August 11, 2023 at 10:33 AM.