Investigators still trying to determine cause of fatal Outer Banks house fire
Investigators are still trying to determine what caused an Aug. 11 house fire in Kill Devil Hills that killed three vacationers from Maryland, including a teenage girl.
Sienna Farr, 13, of Silver Spring, died in the early-morning blaze, as did Colleen Cohan, 64, and William Deeg, 68; a married couple from Ashton, Maryland.
Sienna’s 48-year-old mother Laura Volk, 16-year-old sister Sadie Farr and Volk’s 55-year-old boyfriend David Brewer all survived, though Volk and Brewer suffered critical injuries. Volk was released from Sentara Norfolk General Hospital this week into the care of a burn center in the D.C. area. Brewer remained hospitalized at Norfolk General, where he was breathing on his own and making improvements, his family said on a CaringBridge page.
Sadie Farr suffered minor injuries and was treated and released the same day from The Outer Banks Hospital.
The fire broke out at 1825 N. Virginia Dare Trail near the Jolly Roger Restaurant about 2:20 a.m. that morning and quickly spread throughout the historic cottage. Firefighters arrived within minutes to find the four-bedroom, four-bath house “fully engulfed in flames,” Kill Devil Hills spokesperson Rachell Tackett said.
She said investigators have determined the house, built in 1948 and registered as a town historic landmark, had working smoke detectors.
Tackett said town fire investigators still don’t have an answer to what caused the blaze, which fully engulfed the house within minutes.
The remains of the house were demolished shortly after the fire and remained there Thursday. Tackett said the structure was demolished quickly for safety reasons, but only after evidence was collected.
“Demolition ensures that no additional fires that may have still been smoldering under debris had a chance to escalate,” she said in a news release. “It was also to keep the public from attempting to enter an unstable and hazardous area.”
Two GoFundMe campaigns for Volk and Brewer have raised more than $125,000 so far.
Established by family friends, a campaign for Laura Volk had raised more than $90,000 Thursday morning. The money will help her “extensive, ongoing medical bills in addition to funeral costs for her daughter,” the campaign reads.
Volk owns an ecological landscape design business, but it is unclear if she’ll be able to return to work.
“The money we raise will go towards a memorial in honor of Sienna Farr and to support expenses for Laura and Sadie as Laura recovers from her injuries,” the campaign reads. “Laura is known for her generous spirit, often helping others through difficult experiences and volunteering in the community.”
A GoFundMe for David Brewer established by his daughter Rachel Toussaint had raised more than $75,000.
Toussaint wrote that both Brewer and Volk will need “multiple surgeries, daily occupational and physical therapy, and around the clock care.”
“Between medical bills, indefinite loss of income, on-going physical therapy after he is back home, grief counseling, transportation, supplies, etc., Dave is going to need friends and family to rally around him to support him financially,” the campaign reads.
