MANTEO, N.C. — Dare County firefighters returned on Wednesday to the site of a 5-alarm fire to put out hotspots after a blaze destroyed a furniture warehouse and several sheds and barns next door.
The blaze ignited at around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday before engulfing the nearly 10,000 square foot Manns Harbor location for Manteo Furniture & Appliances Warehouse.
Neighbors said they watched in a panic as the smoke enveloped their neighborhood.
"It was so black you couldn't even see these houses, I mean it was so unbelievably black that you couldn't even see the building, just the fire on top and then the smoke," said one neighbor.
The smoke was still coming off the devastated area more than 24 hours after the fire first started. The warehouse is almost completely destroyed as the roof meets the ground, and steel bars spread across the property.
Neighbors said they heard what sounded like "explosions" coming from the fire.
"It just started blowing up! Barrels coming through the top of the roof and I mean it just melted the whole thing," said a neighbor.
Dare County firefighters poured water on the entire structure while continuing to work to determine how the fire started in the first place. The county's fire marshal did not provide a reason for why the fire started yet.
A county leader said it was upgraded to a 5-alarm fire, prompting crews from six Dare County agencies, Tyrrell County and Currituck County to all respond.
Leaders said they had a hard time fighting the fire as they did it without access to municipal water. However, fire leaders noted that access to water would not have changed the warehouse's outcome.
Carter Mann, who lives right next door to the warehouse, said his family watched in horror as the fire crept closer to their houses. He said his family has lost a great deal of money as their barn went up in flames.
“It’s a pretty big loss, I mean my Dad has worked for the past 40/50 years to get everything and all the tools for the barn," said Mann. "I’m just happy that no houses were involved, and nobody got hurt because it could have been a lot worse.”