A fire at the Summercamp hotel in Oak Bluffs Saturday night triggered the evacuation of 65 guests who were relocated to other Island lodging. No one was injured.
Around 7:30 pm Saturday night, Oak Bluffs Fire was dispatched to the Summercamp hotel after receiving calls reporting the smell of smoke coming from one of the hotel’s buildings, Deputy Fire Chief Stephen Foster told The Times.
The smoke was coming from the Overlook, an adjacent structure to the main building.
Oak Bluffs Police were the first at the scene, confirming smoke in the building.
Police activated the hotel’s fire alarm system, and were able to safely evacuate all occupants of the building, Foster said. At the time, 32 rooms were occupied.
A first alarm structure fire was declared upon confirmation of smoke in the building; Edgartown and Tisbury Fire/EMS personnel were then called in, Foster said.
Responders noted “heavy smoke” coming from the structure’s basement, and discovered a “smoldering fire” in a five- by five-foot crawlspace under a water heater, Foster said.
The fire was quickly extinguished without incident. There were no injuries reported.
Water heaters were promptly shut off, and the building was cleared out and closed to guests for the night for ventilation and air quality monitoring.
Occupants of the 32 evacuated rooms were escorted to their rooms to gather belongings. With the help of Summercamp management, all 65 guests were successfully relocated to a handful of other Island hotels for the night.
Deputy Foster praised all three towns’ first responders. “We want to thank all our mutual aid partners for their assistance,” he said. “They did a phenomenal job.”
The cause of the fire is unknown at this time, and is currently under investigation.
