Morning blaze destroys
Blowing Rock home

An early-morning fire on Thursday destroyed a Blowing Rock home on Appalachian Ski Mountain.

The home at 759 Golden Ridge Road near the top of the mountain was already engulfed by the time the first 911 calls were made. The property is owned by Dick and Rebecca Wiebert of Melbourne, Fla. Although the couple had reportedly visited earlier in the week, the home was vacant at the time of the fire.

The first emergency call came in at 3:50 a.m., with reports coming from miles around due to the high altitude of the house and easy visibility of the flames. Firefighters arrived to find the structure fully in flames and witnesses reported a total loss.

The home was a large, two-story house built in log-cabin style, with a listed tax value of $101,000. It was built in 1985.

The site was hard to access and tankers had to be shuttled in. Fire reached the surrounding woods but fire fighters were able to extinguish the blaze before it reached nearby structures. The Blowing Rock and Boone fire departments responded to the call, and no one was injured. Firefighters were still on the scene and no cause had been determined as of press time.

— Scott Nicholson, nicholson@wataugademocrat.com
CLICK HERE FOR RELATED VIDEO