Updated March 6
At just after 10 pm Saturday night, Island emergency officials responded to a report of a fire fully engulfing a home at 1 Laura’s Way in Oak Bluffs.
One male, the only occupant of the house at the time of the blaze, was taken to Martha’s Vineyard Hospital and subsequently flown by helicopter to Mass General Hospital for emergency treatment of injuries sustained in the fire.
As of Sunday, the man was released from the hospital, and the family is staying at the Vineyard Harbor Motel in Vineyard Haven, according to the family.
Oak Bluffs Police arrived first to the scene, Fire Chief Nelson Wirtz told The Times Sunday.
The fire was then controlled and extinguished through collaborative efforts of OBFD, and mutual aid from Edgartown Fire and Tisbury Fire departments. Wirtz said it’s likely that the fire had been going on for some time to have amassed the strength and intensity that it did.
It is not yet clear what caused the fire. Wirtz said the state fire marshal has been contacted, and it is currently under investigation.
The Laura’s Way property is owned by Barbara Plesser, whose daughter and her family reside at the house. Plesser’s daughter and grandchildren were not home at the time.
She said that her daughter’s partner was the sole occupant of the home at the time, and was asleep. But Plesser said that he was able to get out of the house.
The Oak Bluffs Parent-Teacher Organization — with help from the Oak Bluffs School staff — is holding a clothing drive for the family.
“The Vineyard is a truly remarkable place,” Barbara Plesser told the Times. “It’s unbelievable the generosity and kindness the community has shown us.”
