Fire damages Uncle Eddy’s in Buxton

Jimmy LaRoue
·2 min read

BUXTON, N.C. (WAVY) — An iconic Hatteras Island business suffered significant damage early Friday as the result of a fire.

In a post to its Facebook page, Uncle Eddy’s Frozen Custard and Mini Golf, located at 46878 N.C. Highway 12 in Buxton, had just opened for its 27th season and “sustained significant damage from a fire around 1 a.m. today and will unfortunately be closed until we can rebuild.”

The online post noted that all of its cat friends survived, and that they were closed at the time of the fire, so none of its employees and customers were injured. They also thanked local firefighters for their efforts in battling the blaze.

Laura Handlow, the owner of the nearby Swell Motel, said she looked out the window of one of her motel rooms around midnight and saw flames. But firefighters worked quickly to open the roof and get the fire under control.

She also said that Uncle Eddy’s would be missed this season.

“Yeah, you know, Uncle Eddy’s is a popular spot to bring your children,” she said. “They had miniature golf and great ice cream. A lot of my guests went over there in the evening after being on the beach all day, so I was kind of sad. So we’re hoping that they bring it back, but I don’t know if that’s going to happen this season.”

The business, in a Facebook post, said it planned to rebuild.

10 On Your Side is working to learn the cause of the fire. Investigators were back at the business Friday morning.

A GoFundMe has been established to help the business. It noted that the Buxton Volunteer Fire Department was dispatched at 12:13 a.m. Friday, and Hatteras and Frisco VFDs, along with Dare County Sheriff’s Office and Dare County EMS responded to the scene, battling wind gusts of more than 30 mph as they had the fire under control in about 45 minutes.

There was no damage to other buildings, and no injuries were reported, the post noted.

The 1,762-square-foot building was built in 1960, according to the GoFundMe page.

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