THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, April 4, 1995 TAG: 9504040320
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
DATELINE: ROANOKE ISLAND LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
The 2-year-old dream home of a widely known restaurateur and his family was heavily damaged by fire Monday morning.
Neither R.V. Owens III nor his wife, Julie, was in town when a workman spotted smoke about 9:30 a.m. in the three-story, gabled house on Scuppernong Road in the Mother Vineyard section of Roanoke Island.
About 35 firefighters from the Roanoke Island Volunteer Fire Department responded, and kept the fire from spreading out of the western half of the white, vinyl-sided structure.
The cause of the fire was not immediately determined, said fire department Capt. Ken Daniels. However, Owens said he understood it had been caused by a faulty lamp.
``It apparently started in a second-floor dressing room,'' Daniels said. ``The top two floors on one half of the house were burnt out, and the first floor had heavy water damage. The other half of the house suffered heavy smoke damage.''
Owens, 37, a descendant of a longtime restaurant family, owns R.V.'s and Keepers Galley restaurants on the Outer Banks and two Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises. He also is a member of the state Board of Transportation.
He was at a meeting on highways in Elizabeth City when the fire started Monday. His wife was in Norfolk with one of their children. The other child was in school.
The couple had the home built in 1993, and filled it with family treasures. Many were destroyed in the fire. But when he reached the scene Monday afternoon, Owens said, ``We were fortunate.''
``We can build our house back. They make lumber every day. They don't make kids.''
Scores of neighbors and friends gathered on the street after smoke soared into the air and flames licked through the roof. There are no water lines in the area, so firefighters rigged half-a-mile of hose and pumped water from Roanoke Sound. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photos]
DREW WILSON/Staff
Above: Roanoke Island Fire Department members work at extinguishing
the final flickering flames in the second story of a home owned by
R.V. Owens III.
At right: Homeowner, R.V. Ownes, right, waits with his father,
Robert V. "Bobby" Owens, to inform his wife that the fire had gutted
portions of the second floor.
KEYWORDS: FIRE by CNB