Fire breaks out at historic Graystone Inn in downtown Wilmington UPDATE
UPDATE (12:00 a.m.):
WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Fire crews spent much of the afternoon working to put out a blaze at the historic Graystone Inn on South 3rd Street in downtown Wilmington.
Flames and smoke were shooting into the air when crews arrived just after 1 p.m.
Wilmington Fire Chief Steve Mason says battling fires in older buildings is especially challenging because they can burn longer than conventional structures and often have hard-to-reach spaces.
“Some of these old buildings, especially buildings of this size, have a lot of void spaces,” Mason told WWAY.
He says there are a lot of areas which are difficult to access when a building is on fire.
“They also have a lot of open channels the fire can quickly travel [through],” Mason said.
“Part of the issue will be the difficulty they will experience when trying to get to the root cause of fire is the significant amount of damage and how we will get people into the building safely to conduct a thorough investigation,” Mason added.
Mason says the department asked Duke Energy to turn off power near the incident while crews were battling the fire.
Fire crews in the area will spend the overnight hours looking for any hotspots and continue monitoring the area.
South 3rd Street at Market and Orange Streets will remain closed until further notice.
UPDATE (5:30 p.m.):
WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Fire crews spent much of the afternoon working to put out a blaze at the historic Graystone Inn on South 3rd Street in downtown Wilmington.
Flames and smoke were shooting into the air when crews arrived just after 1 p.m.
Wilmington Fire Chief Steve Mason says battling fires in older buildings is especially challenging because they can burn longer than conventional structures and often have hard-to-reach spaces.
“Some of these old buildings, especially buildings of this size, have a lot of void spaces,” Mason told WWAY.
He says there are a lot of areas which are difficult to access when a building is on fire.
“They also have a lot of open channels the fire can quickly travel [through],” Mason said.
“Part of the issue will be the difficulty they will experience when trying to get to the root cause of fire is the significant amount of damage and how we will get people into the building safely to conduct a thorough investigation,” Mason added.
Mason says the department asked Duke Energy to turn off power near the incident while crews were battling the fire.
Original post follows:
WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Fire crews are responding to a structure fire at the historic Graystone Inn in downtown Wilmington after the call came in around 1 p.m. Friday.
Wilmington Fire Department units are on scene in the 100 block of South 3rd Street, and Wilmington police have closed South 3rd at Market and Orange streets while firefighters work to extinguish the flames. Drivers are being urged to avoid the area and take alternate routes.
The extent of the damage and whether anyone was injured has not yet been released.
This is not the first time the Graystone Inn has seen fire damage. In June 2023, a late-night fire caused significant destruction after flames spread inside the building’s walls. At that time, crews initially believed the smoke was the result of an electrical issue, but a hidden fire was later discovered and quickly grew.
The 2023 fire prompted multiple alarms, injured three firefighters and caused heavy damage to the landmark structure. Fire officials later determined that blaze began accidentally in the kitchen area.
The Graystone Inn, located at South 3rd and Dock streets, is one of Wilmington’s oldest and most recognized historic buildings.
This is a developing story. We’ll update as soon as more information becomes available.
