
DATE: Wednesday, October 22, 1997           TAG: 9710220709

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: BY CATHERINE KOZAK, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: FRISCO                            LENGTH:   50 lines

FRIENDS ON FISHING TRIP JUMP FOR THEIR LIVES AS FIRE CLAIMS COTTAGE

Nine anglers who gathered for their 10th annual fishing trip on the Outer Banks instead found themselves leaping out a second-story window late Monday night as the Frisco cottage they rented was rapidly consumed by fire.

``It was engulfed in flames probably 75 feet high or better. It was unreal. It was the fastest build-up fire that I think I've ever seen,'' Frisco Fire Department Chief Richard Marlin said Tuesday. ``From the time they first noticed the fire, it was completely out of control in three minutes.''

One man twisted his ankle, but there were no additional injuries. The nine friends, from South Carolina, Virginia and Charlotte, N.C., were celebrating their 10th consecutive fishing vacation on the Outer Banks. Names of the men were not available Tuesday.

The $225,000 oceanfront house at Run Boat Court in Frisco, owned by Doug Hinson of Avon, was destroyed, Dare County Fire Marshal Doug Remaley said Tuesday. The siding and windows on the adjacent house to the south also sustained about $10,000 in damage, he said.

Half the men were asleep and the rest were playing cards together when the smoke detector went off. They immediately tried to exit through the first-floor door, but found they were blocked by heat and fire. They then raced upstairs to escape from a second-story window.

``The fellows noticed it and dove out,'' Marlin said. ``They're some very, very lucky people.'' By the time the last man reached the window, the house was engulfed in flames.

With assistance from the Buxton, Hatteras and Avon fire departments, the blaze was controlled within 35 minutes, Marlin said. The three-story wood frame house ``pancake collapsed'' - the walls separated and the floors fell on top of each other - and was still smoldering Tuesday afternoon.

The 1991 Cajun 18-foot fishing boat and the Chevrolet Tahoe parked under the house were both destroyed, Remaley said. The fire marshal said it appeared that the blaze ignited somewhere near the boat and was most likely due to an electrical problem. The fire is still under investigation, he said. ILLUSTRATION: DAMAGE

The $225,000 oceanfront house at Run Boat Court in Frisco, owned by

Doug Hinson of Avon, was destroyed, Dare County Fire Marshal Doug

Remaley said.

The siding and windows on the adjacent house to the south also

sustained about $10,000 in damage, he said.

With assistance from the Buxton, Hatteras and Avon fire departments,

the blaze was controlled within 35 minutes, Frisco Fire Department

Chief Richard Marlin said. KEYWORDS: FIRE