Flames Doused at Bella Fiore

Neighbor Barbara Hardy stepped outside for a moment and noticed an orange glow in the upstairs bedroom window at Sarah Fiore's residence, next door to the Back Porch Restaurant on Back Road.  Her first thought was that it was odd Sarah had decorated for Halloween.  Instantly realizing her error, she placed a 911 call between 6:30 and 6:45 p.m.

Her husband, Bob Ray, barely had time to whip out their garden hose before the OVFD was on the scene, said Barbara.  The fire was extinguished in less than an hour.

The damage appears to be extensive. 

Sarah and fiance Brad Yeatman were with friends at Zillie's.  Before the fire department could get her on the phone, she was already on her way, said Debbie Bryan, who was Hyde Countys first female firefighter.  News of the fire instantly went viral among Ocracoke's community of facebook friends.

Sarah sadly shook her head when I walked up with my notepad, too upset to comment.  She is a member of the OVFD, and helped extinguish the last house fire on Ocracoke, an arson that was committed on a chilly night on December 17, 2010. 

"She just showed up wearing a different kind of boots.  That's all," said fire chief Albert O'Neal of the fashionable Sarah.  He has no reason to think there is foul play involved in this fire.  All the lights were off and there were no candles burning.

A fire marshal, most likely from Hatteras Island, will arrive tomorrow to determine the cause of the fire, if the ferries are running.  Albert also heads up the Ocracoke ferry division, and said it could only get him into trouble if he commented on that.

The building houses Sarah and Brad's residence upstairs; the downstairs is home to her pottery studio and art store, Bella Fiore.  The shop was not in the path of the flames, but fighting fire means liberally using water, and reciprocal damage is likely, said Albert.

Small comfort in the midst of devastation is knowing the home and shop are both insured.  Barbara said Sarah summoned some dark humor from her loss by noting that they'd been hoping to eventually renovate the upstairs anyway. 

The firefighters fought the flames from outside the house, and struggled mightily to gain entry to combat it closer to the source, before extinguishing it completely.

"She has a helluva dead bolt on that door, is all I can tell you," said Albert.  "I'm going to find out the manufacturer."