Massive hotel fire sends flames 40 feet in the air at NC’s Oak Island, witnesses say

The Ocean Crest Motel on Oak Island caught fire Sunday night, and the flames were intense enough to shoot up to 40 feet high, a witness told TV station WECT.

The motel had about two dozen guests at the time, but none were in the part of the motel that burned, the station reported.

Fourteen different fire departments, off duty personnel and volunteers were called to help put out the fire, the Oak Island Fire Department said in a Facebook post. In all, 60 firefighters and 25 fire trucks and other fire department equipment responded, reported the Wilmington Star News.

“Windy conditions aided with the spread of the fire,” the Oak Island Fire Department’s post said. The fire was brought under control at 2 a.m., officials said.

Photos posted on Facebook show walls and the roof of the upper floors collapsing. Fire officials said on Facebook that the building was 10,000 square feet.

The call came in about 10:19 p.m. Sunday, reported Fox 8, and was the fire department reported it was “heavily involved” when crews arrived.

WECT says there were no guests in the section that burned because it was under renovation. However, the building was a home to the owners, who escaped without injury, said the station.

Motel owner Walter Logan told WWAY he learned of the fire when someone called the check-in desk and “reported seeing flames coming from the balcony.”

He told the station the building that burned accounts for “close to 50 percent of my business” and he suspected Coastal Area Management Act regulations will keep him from rebuilding it along the beach.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

This story was originally published March 4, 2019 at 11:22 AM.