In the early morning hours of September 11th, a resident of Villa Dunes spotted a fire across Roanoke Sound on the northern end of Roanoke Island and called 911. The famed Lost Colony’s maintenance shed and Irene Rains costume shop were in flames. All fire departments north of Oregon Inlet responded. The swift reaction of the firefighters and Dare County emergency management saved the Waterside Theatre and remaining structures, but the maintenance shed and costume shop were completely destroyed. The value of the lost buildings has been estimated at about $1 million. Although the historical association built the 1,300-square-foot costume shop, the Lost Colony buildings, located within Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, are the property of the federal government. Approximately 80% of the active costumes used in the summer production of The Lost Colony drama, stored in the costume shop, were lost. No other structures were damaged and the Waterside Theatre was unharmed. The official cause of the fire is still under investigation and is undetermined at this time. A relief site is located on The Lost Colony website at http://www.thelostcolony.org.
