KILL DEVIL HILLS, N.C. — Fire investigators are still trying to figure out what caused a massive two-alarm fire in the Outer Banks over the weekend.
The fire displaced 50 people and destroyed an 18-bedroom vacation rental house in Kill Devil Hills on Sunday.
Neighbor Bill Metzinger woke up at 4 a.m. to his niece shouting “Fire!”
"Yeah we saw it all," Metzinger said. "I don't know what an inferno sounds like but man, it was incredible."
Not much is left of the oceanfront rental. A pile of charred rubble stands where the home used to be.
"It was scary,” Metzinger said. “We thought for sure this house was going to go down."
The fire was so hot it melted nearby cars and damaged four other homes.
The flames also consumed the pool house belonging to the Marriott Hotel across the street.
Rob Geran was staying at the Marriott. He woke up to sirens and fire trucks swarming the street.
"I think it was over 18,000 square feet, and it's just gone in the middle of the night,” Geran said. "We were just here the night before, in the pool, and it looks like the pool is gone, too."
Fire Chief Troy Tilley said 42 people inside the single-family structure escaped without injury, thanks to smoke detectors.
"Smoke alarms that were inside the structure notified the occupants to get out. Fortunately they were able to get out in time,” Tillley said.
“With that amount of fire and that time of morning - most people are asleep - we're fortunate not to have any fatalities or injuries."
Neighbors said the rental home was built within the past year and only recently welcomed vacationers.
"We were on the beach with them the day before - there was a bunch of kids," Metzinger said. "Then we heard there were 42 people in there that got out. That's a miracle. If you would have seen it, you would have thought, 'No way.'"
The Red Cross is also helping another eight people who had to evacuate from homes that were next door.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation. The fire chief is asking anyone with information about the fire, or any video showing the blaze, to contact the Kill Devil Hills Fire Department. That phone number is 252-480-4060.