The Banks Grill in Morehead City is taking donations to help its head chef, who lost everything when a Friday night fire fire destroyed his home off Hall Road. (Facebook photo)
Carteret County Fire Marshal Eddie Lewis said Monday that after an investigation, the cause of the fire that destroyed this home at 125 Hall Road off Highway 24 is listed as accidental. (Carteret County photo)
The Banks Grill in Morehead City is taking donations to help its head chef, who lost everything when a Friday night fire fire destroyed his home off Hall Road. (Facebook photo)
NEWPORT — A fire Friday night destroyed a home off Hall Road off Highway 24 near Water’s Edge RV Park, leaving the renter homeless.
Carteret County Fire Marshall Eddie Lewis said the county has hooked the renter, Jeremy Turbeville, head chef at the popular Banks Grill at 2900 Arendell St., up with the Red Cross and the Salvation Army for assistance.
Carteret County Fire Marshal Eddie Lewis said Monday that after an investigation, the cause of the fire that destroyed this home at 125 Hall Road off Highway 24 is listed as accidental. (Carteret County photo)
Mr. Turbeville has three children ages 3, 8 and 12, who stay with him occasionally, and The Banks Grill is taking donations to help.
As of lunchtime Monday, the GoFundMe page had raised more than $4,200 out of a $10,000 goal.
Jeremy Turnage, who bought The Banks Grill in March, said Mr. Turbeville has worked at the business since its inception, about nine years ago.
Monday, he called him a terrific employee, loved by customers and other employees.
“He’s cool, calm and collected under pressure,” he said. “He’s a wonderful father, a model citizen.”
Mr. Turnage said donations of cash, clothes, toys and other things necessary to rebuild a life have been pouring in since Saturday morning.
“Local churches have stepped in, and consignment shops are helping,” he said. “They’ve told him to just come in and get whatever he needs. We want to do everything we can to help. Jeremy is just a wonderful person, and he’s lost everything. I can’t even imagine how that feels.”
Mr. Lewis said there was no one home when the fire started on the deck at the 2001 double-wide mobile home. He said his office is calling the fire, which started on the deck, “accidental.”
The call came in at 10:12 p.m. when a motorist saw flames coming out of the roof of the three-bedroom, two-bathroom structure.
The Carteret County Sheriff’s Office, Morehead City Fire Department, Broad and Gales Creek Fire and EMS, Western Carteret Fire and EMS Department and the Newport Fire Department all responded, but could not save the structure, which was declared a total loss.
The owners of the property are Gary and O’Neill Riggs, Mr. Lewis said.
The structure, he said, is well off Hall Road and difficult to see, so no one noticed the fire until a motorist saw flames coming out of the roof.
Mr. Lewis said his investigation found that the fire moved from the deck up the vinyl siding, into the soffit and then into the attic before it broke through the roof and became visible.
Although all the departments responded as quickly as possible, Mr. Lewis said, once the fire got into the roof, there was no way to save it.
It spread quickly, Mr. Lewis added, because there was combustible material on the deck, there was a relatively strong breeze at 10 mph and humidity was low at the time, about 51 percent.
Firefighters and EMS crews stayed on the scene for close to four hours to make sure the fire was not still smoldering in the attic. There are other homes nearby, Mr. Lewis said, and attic fire can smolder for a long time.
“All of the departments worked together very well,” Mr. Lewis said. “We always appreciate that. They were out there a long time. The last truck left at 2:06 a.m.”
No one was injured, he added.
He commended the Red Cross and the Salvation Army for stepping in quickly to assist the family.
Contact Brad Rich at 252-864-1532; email brad@thenewstimes.com; or follow on Twitter @brichccnt.
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