An oceanfront vacation rental home in Southern Shores was destroyed this evening after bursting into flames, according to witnesses, who also reported hearing an explosion.
The rental home, located at 150 Ocean Blvd., was unoccupied at the time, the renters having departed before the fire broke out, The Beacon learned on the scene.
The Southern Shores Fire Dept. and the Kitty Hawk and Duck fire departments responded to the fire around 6:30 p.m. and quickly assessed that the three-story structure could not be saved, according to first responders who spoke with The Beacon.
Firefighters immediately took steps to prevent the spread of the fire by hosing down nearby homes and were able to contain it—although some flames shot out along what appeared to be the beach dunes to the south after crews had been battling the fire for more than an hour and a half.
“We’ll stay until it’s completely out,” David Sanders, a volunteer firefighter, told The Beacon.
Vacationer Kirsten Saylor of Frederick, Md., said she was returning by car from dinner out with family when she saw smoke and flames rising from the Southern Shores oceanfront and then heard a loud explosion when she got closer, possibly of a propane tank. The fire definitely preceded the explosion, said Ms. Saylor, who is an emergency medical technician in Frederick.
According to Dare County GIS, the house at 150 Ocean Blvd. was originally built in 1978 and is owned by Southern Shores Realty Co. Dare County recently assessed the value of the house, which has six bedrooms, four full bathrooms and two half-baths, an attached garage, 3,548 square feet of finished space, and a private pool at just $172,000.
The County assessed the land at $1.8 million.
Known as Sunz Up in the Southern Shores Realty rental catalog, the house appears in photographs online to have been beautifully remodeled and appointed. It has an occupancy limit of 12 people (See https://www.southernshores.com/outer-banks-rentals/0041-sunz-up.)
Earlier in the day, the Southern Shores Fire Dept. responded to a devastating fire in a Colington house, which the Colington Fire Dept. reported in The Outer Banks Voice was occupied at the time. The father and daughter who were inside the three-story structure were able to escape safely, but damage was extensive.
The cause of each fire is under investigation.
By Ann G. Sjoerdsma, The Southern Shores Beacon, 6/18/25
The Southern Shores Beacon 