Fire claims house at Wrightsville Beach

For the most part, everything in the Wrightsville Beach house on West Henderson Street was burned to a crisp Monday morning. “There were five people in the home at the time of the fire. They were able to escape,” said Wrightsville Beach Fire Chief Frank Smith. “The fire was actually reported by a newspaper carrier who was making his rounds delivering the morning paper.”

Chief Smith said a dog did perish in the fire. The chief believes the home is beyond repair.

The house next door was also damaged, but it is repairable. “We were very lucky. That is a testament to the response of the fire department and the police department. They both said that had it been a minute longer that our house would have been in flames also,” said neighbor Sammy Winter.

The fire apparently started on the ground floor. “During our investigation we found spray cans and propane cylinders that exploded,” Chief Smith added.

Firefighters had the fire under control within 15 minutes of arriving on the scene, but they fought the fire for several hours in order put out several hidden fires.

The Wilmington Fire Department and New Hanover County assisted Wrightsville Beach at that fire on West Henderson Street.