West Tisbury firemen quickly doused brush fire on Beaten Path

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West Tisbury volunteer fireman Bruce Haynes sprayed foam to extinguish the remnants of a brush fire that broke out in a wooded area on Beaten Path in West Tisbury Tuesday. — Tony Omer

West Tisbury firefighters early Tuesday afternoon responded quickly to a report of a brush fire in a wooded lot on Beaten Path in West Tisbury and doused the flames before they could spread.

Firefighters sprayed foam on trees and soaked the ground to put out the smoldering brush fire that sent smoke wafting through the rural neighborhood just west of the Tisbury town line off State Road.

The fire was contained to less than a half acre. Two brush trucks, including one new truck on its maiden voyage, a tanker truck and about a dozen firefighters responded.

Fire chief Manuel Estrella said he responded to a call reporting smoke in the area of Buttonwood Farm Road next to Beaten Path about 1 pm. The trucks began to pull away less than an hour and a half later. He said the cause of the fire had not been determined.

Boat mechanic Keith Maciel, owner of the property where the fire started, said a tenant who rents an apartment above one of his two garages had a party on Saturday night. There was a large barbeque fire built on the ground in a parking area near the location of the brush fire, he said. The charred edge of the underbrush was within two feet of the edge of the area used for the barbeque.