By Connie Leinbach
An early morning vehicle fire today was quickly contained by the Ocracoke Volunteer Fire Department.
Assistant Fire Chief Ernest Doshier said that the call came in around 6:30 a.m. and that a truck at a rental house at the end of Pamlico Shores Drive was fully involved when the fire trucks arrived within about four minutes.
“The truck was kind of under a tree and right beside the house,” he said. “We hit the tree first, because it was up against the house — to protect the house — and then, once we were assured the house wasn’t going to be on fire, we went ahead and put the truck out.”
While photos show flames billowing out of the cab, Doshier said the fire was confined to the cab area and did not reach the diesel fuel compartment or the house.
Nevertheless, it took longer than expected to contain.
“It was pretty tough to put out,” he said about the fire. “We probably put 1,200 gallons on that thing.”
After the fire was contained, the volunteers spent time under the truck’s hood and in the cab making sure all hot spots were wetted down to prevent anything from reigniting.
No one was injured, and the house was undamaged, an attached boat was OK, he said, but the tree was singed.
Neighbor Jerry Newsome said he was up early and while looking out the kitchen window saw black smoke and went over to the scene. He went over to the scene and called 911 but someone already had done so.
While thunderstorms were in the vicinity, a lightning strike did not cause the fire, Doshier said, and he does not know what started it.
“It wasn’t even thundering when we got called up,” he said, nor was it raining. “All that stuff was out there in the sound.”
He said about a dozen volunteers responded, along with Hyde County Sheriff deputies, NPS law enforcement officers, EMS personnel and others.
