4 confirmed dead, 2 others injured after large fire on Outer Banks in North Carolina

The four people listed as missing after an early morning house fire Friday in Buxton have been confirmed dead, according to Dare County Emergency Services.

The identities of the four have not been released.

Two people were taken to The Outer Banks Hospital in Nags Head, the agency said. Officials did not release their conditions.

The home’s residents were U.S. Coast Guard personnel and their families, according to a U.S. Coast Guard press release. The four dead were family members of one of the guardsmen, according to the Outer Banks Voice.

Investigators say a caller reported after 4 a.m. that “flames were visible” from a home at 46110 Cape Hatteras Lane, officials said. Fire departments from three communities were still battling flames as late as 9:30 a.m.

Tourist Edwin Grosvenor, who was renting a nearby home, told McClatchy News he was awakened by the sound of a “muffled explosion.”

“Soon the emergency vehicles came by. I went outside and saw bright orange flames reaching up into the night sky and smoke over the four-story houses, several of which had caught fire. It was very dramatic,” he told McClatchy News. “Firemen were able to save the adjoining houses, but one was a total loss.”

Volunteer fire teams from Buxton, Hatteras and Frisco responded, county officials said. Dare County Emergency Management said it is investigating the blaze.

The U.S. Coast Guard reported Monday the guardsmen who lived in the home “have received an outpouring of volunteerism and offers of assistance from both the local community and from around the country.”

“This is an exceptionally hard time for our members and their families,” Capt. Matt Baer, Commander, Sector North Carolina, said in a release. “It is heartening to see the outpouring of support from the Outer Banks and around the country.”

This story was originally published October 23, 2020 at 11:01 AM.