Edgartown firefighters doused two brush fires Sunday. The first was a relatively small blaze. The second fire was more significant and was brought under control with assistance from the West Tisbury and Oak Bluffs fire departments.
For many people, it was a day off from work to enjoy summer-like temperatures. For individual members of Martha's Vineyard's volunteer fire departments, it was a day interrupted.
"It seemed to be one thing after another," said Edgartown fire chief Peter Shemeth. The day began with several automatic alarm calls. "Fortunately, they were all false alarms but we still have to go and check them out," said Mr. Shemeth.
Firefighters responded to a brush fire Sunday threatening a house in a remote area of the Boldwater subdivision in Edgartown. Image from Google Maps
About 1 pm Edgartown received a call about a transformer fire on the Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road near Third Street. Normally, when there is a malfunction, a fuse in the transformer separates, breaking the circuit. However in this case the fuse continued to burn and showered leaves on the ground with hot particles that sparked a brushfire.
Firefighters responded and put out the fire before it could spread to nearby houses. While a crew remained to deal with remaining hot spots, the other firefighters returned to the station.
The resulting power outage lasted about 25 minutes and affected 8,000 customers, according to NStar spokesman Michael Durand.
A false alarm from a house near Eel Pond interrupted the afternoon. Later that day, the communications center alerted West Tisbury firefighters to a report of the smell of smoke.
Initially, there was some thought that the smoke might have been caused by a controlled burn. West Tisbury fire chief Manuel Estrella went to the site and determined that fire was out. As more calls came in a search began for the source.
Joe Loughrey, a seasonal resident who lives in the Boldwater subdivision, walked out his door to go for a walk. He decided it was a beautiful day and to take a longer walk. He returned to his house to get a water container.
"As I went out he second time I looked to my left and I saw smoke," he said. He walked a little closer towards the smoke and saw fire through the trees.
Mr. Loughrey called 911. "They came out pretty quickly, thankfully, because it was moving towards my neighbor's house," he said.
Chief Shemeth was driving near Morning Glory Farm when he received the call that pinpointed the location at the very end of the road in a heavily wooded area. He called West Tisbury and asked that the department put its brush breaker trucks on alert.
The location of the fire at the end of a long winding road made it difficult to reach. Chief Shemeth arrived to find Mr. Loughrey who said the fire was heading for his neighbor's house. "When I arrived at the scene there was smoke and heavy flames," he said.
The fire was moving rapidly towards a house owned by Robert Rukeyser of Edgartown and Greenwich, Conn., valued at $5.6 million, according to the Edgartown assessors office.
As Edgartown responded with every piece of equipment, Mr. Shemeth asked the West Tisbury brush breakers and two tank trucks to respond. An Oak Bluffs fire department pumper truck set up by a hydrant on the West Tisbury Road and filled the tankers that then shuttled water to the fire scene.
Firefighters stopped the fire at the edge of the lawn at the driveway. A dirt road that separated the fire from an expanse of brush and scrub oak became another battle line.
"If it had crossed the road, it would have been a lot more difficult to contain," said Chief Shemeth.
Firefighters wet down vegetation to keep the fire from jumping the road. Once fire fighters had the outside of the fire controlled the brush breakers were used to attack hot spots within the fire area so that fire fighters would not have to run long hose lines. The fire area was approximately three-acres in size.
"We were very fortunate," said Chief Shemeth. "Especially being that far out and without a water supply. Everybody did a great job."
The fire began at an electrical box located at the main road and driveway. A short circuit ignited nearby leaves, and the available breeze fanned the fire.
Chief Shemeth said it would have been easy to dismiss reports of smoke as due to a controlled burn. But every call, even those from automatic alarms, is checked out because there is no way to know when a fire exists he said.
There is no question multiple calls put a strain on the volunteers. "It is a lot to ask, but everybody, when the call comes in, drops whatever they are doing and responds to it," said Chief Shemeth.
Ray Long, a resident of Boldwater and caretaker for many of the properties, said it is fortunate that Mr. Loughrey was at home and discovered the fire when he did. He said the flames were approximately ten feet high and the fire was moving rapidly. "The firefighters got there just in time to stop it before it reached the house," said Mr. Long. "It was a great save."
