‘Like a volcano erupted’: Witnesses describe fire ripping through waterfront homes
SURF CITY, NC (WWAY) — It was a very scary scene in Surf City Sunday when a major fire tore through at least seven homes.
Surf City Fire Chief Allen Wilson said several departments, including the SBI, ATF, and the state fire marshal’s office are investigating.
Traci Huffman watched the homes burned and saw how quickly the fire spread. She described it like a 6 minute trickle effect.
“We watched the fire start on one house, and then spread within minutes to the second, and then by the end of it, there was eight houses that had caught on fire, and seven are completely on the ground now,” Huffman said.
8-year-old MaKayla couldn’t believe what she saw.
“It was like a volcano erupted over there,” MaKayla said.
Jane Sizemore was taking her evening walk on Topsail Beach when she looked up and saw a black sky.
“I knew something was bad because you don’t normally see smoke on the beach,” Sizemore said.
Huffman moved to the area two years ago and says this community is loved by many. She says after Hurricane Florence, they have already been through enough.
“It’s a small community, and we’ve already been through a lot within the last couple of years with hurricanes, and just kind of recovering from Florence and now this happens and it’s just hard on small communities like this,” Huffman said.
Investigators are still trying to get in touch with all of the witnesses and property owners.
Once the investigation is over, those whose homes burned will be able to return to their property.
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