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(Holly Jackson/WDN)

Photo courtesy of Emmett Olsen

(Holly Jackson/WDN)

(Holly Jackson/WDN)

Washington Daily News File Photo

(Holly Jackson/WDN)

Crews responded to a devastating fire at Bellefont Plantation on Tuesday night (Jan. 9) at approximately 6 p.m. during a severe winter storm. The historic home is located at  275 Robersonville Road in Washington. 

“The first arriving responder described that home as just being fully consumed with fire,” Beaufort County Emergency Services Director, Chris Newkirk, said and added that the home was a “total loss.” 

There is an ongoing investigation into the fire, and a cause has yet to be determined. 

When asked if the storm caused the fire, Newkirk said, “we can’t say they are unrelated.” Beaufort County Offices of Emergency Services can confirm there were “significant storm impacts” in that part of the county around the time of the call for assistance. Downed power lines near the home were reported on Tuesday. 

“There were definitely some complications from the storm that we believe played a role in that whole event,” Newkirk said. 

Newkirk said it is “unfortunate” to lose a “hidden gem” of Beaufort County.  

Before the fire, Bellefont was used as a wedding and event space. It’s owner, Phyllis Boyd, said the home had been in her family, on the Hodges side, since 1860. 

Boyd used Bellefont as a venue as her way of maintaining and preserving it, she said. 

“I’m devastated,” Boyd said. “This is not just a house I was renting out. It is my family home. I’m very emotional right now.”  

Right now, Boyd is unsure of what her options for Bellefont’s future could be.

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