By By NIKIE MAYO, News Editor
PAMLICO BEACH — A couple visiting their Pamlico Beach cottage for Labor Day weekend came back from a nearby dock to find it ablaze Saturday night. By midnight, there would be nothing left of their home.
The fire on Boss Hog Avenue started around 9 p. m. In a matter of moments, the house was fully engulfed, as was the couple’s truck, which was under the carport.
No one was inside the house when the fire started, but the man who owns the home was taken to Pungo District Hospital in Belhaven for treatment of minor burns. The couple’s names were not released.
At least 35 firefighters — from volunteer departments in Pamlico Beach, Sidney, Belhaven and Bath — responded to the blaze. A crew from Tideland Electric Membership Corporation was also called to the scene.
The cause of the fire remained unknown as of Sunday night, but officials do not believe it was arson. Last Sunday, the Mount Olive Pentecostal Faith Church in Belhaven was gutted by a fire that was intentionally set. Police are still following leads on that fire.
The couple was at a dock “in close proximity” to the house, she said.