Fire destroys Frisco ‘spaceship’ structure

Published 6:29 pm Thursday, October 20, 2022

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Fire consumed a Frisco icon the night of Oct. 19, 2022.

The call went out around 10 p.m. The Frisco “spaceship,” called a Futuro house, was completely engulfed in flames when the 10 Frisco Fire Department volunteers arrived with an engine and ladder truck.

Buxton volunteers arrived quickly thereafter with another seven firefighters. Back at the Buxton station, six more firefighters waited on standby. Buxton volunteers arrived with an engine.

Get the latest headlines sent to you

Hatteras village firefighters came with six volunteers and another engine.

Frisco’s chief Dave Davidson, who arrived in his personal vehicle, took the command. The wind was blowing straight back. Other structures were not harmed.

No one was injured, reported John Risoldi, fire marshal with the Kill Devil Hills Fire Department. Dare County’s fire marshal Steve Kovacs was at a training class in South Carolina.

It was reported the building was made of fiberglass over metal.

Initially, firefighters used water from a close-by hydrant and hooked up five-inch hose across NC 12 to the Frisco engine, which required NC 12 to be closed.

From the engine, firefighters deployed two, inch-and three-quarter hoses and a two-and-a-half inch for standby.

After the attack with water, Class A compressed air foam was used to smother the fire.

Risoldi declared the famous building a “total loss.” The cause of the fire is “still under investigation,” reported Risoldi.

A Dare County Emergency Medical Services crew also responded to the fire scene on NC 12 in Frisco. A Dare County Sheriff’s Office deputy responded, as did a Cape Hatteras Electric Cooperative crew.

The Outer Banks History Center posted on Facebook that “the Futuro House has been an icon to some, and an eyesore to others, since it first landed on Hatteras Island around 1972.”

Over the almost 50 years, the structure has been used as a residence, an office, a hot dog stand, the Monitor Newsletter office and, most recently, a roadside attraction, stated the History Center post.

Originally conceived as the House of the Future back in the late 1960s, the Futuro house didn’t sell well, the History Center continued. Less than 100 were ever produced, and less than 20 still exist today.

Frisco Fire Chief Dave Davidson posted on Facebook: “Sad to report, Frisco lost a piece of history last night. The ‘Spaceship’ is no more. Thank you to all the Firefighters for a job well done! Chief 42”

READ ABOUT MORE NEWS HERE.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE COASTLAND TIMES TODAY!

coastland gold