Firefighters extinguishing the home lost on Chappaquiddick. —Courtesy Edgartown Fire Department 
Nobody was hurt in the fire. —Courtesy Edgartown Fire Department 
The Edgartown Fire Department considered the home a total loss. —Courtesy Edgartown Fire Department 
The fire took place at 2 am Thursday. —Courtesy Edgartown Fire Department
Updated June 11
A fire on Chappaquiddick Island burned a house to the ground early Thursday morning.
The Edgartown Fire Department wrote in a social media post Thursday that it received a 2 am call for a house fire on Chappaquiddick. Before first responders arrived, the resident and her dog were able to safely exit the building, at 123 Litchfield Road, after being alerted by smoke detectors, according to a press release from the Edgartown Fire Department. There were no injuries.
The release said the Edgartown Fire Department’s duty officer activated a specialized first alarm response protocol tailored for Chappaquiddick, which initiated responses from multiple Island agencies.
On-call Edgartown volunteer fire personnel on Chappaquiddick deployed a firefighting apparatus from the Chappy station located on 48 Chappaquiddick Road. First responders from Edgartown arrived later with additional fire trucks and equipment “designed to board the ferry at low tide with a full complement of water,” according to the release. Oak Bluffs assisted with water supply support, which utilized the newly installed cistern (a water receptacle that catches, filters, and stores water) on Chappaquiddick Road.
Meantime, the West Tisbury Fire Department provided two tankers for water shuttling services and on-call firefighters, and the Tisbury Fire Department maintained station coverage at the Edgartown Fire Department during the incident.
“Management of this intricate operation relied on predetermined leadership roles filled by members trained in incident command. The success of the response was also dependent on established procedures with the Chappy Ferry and support from the Edgartown Police Department,” the release read. “Our success in containing the fire, protecting surrounding structures and preventing the spread to a wildfire is a testament to the established protocols, mutual aid agreements, strategic equipment investments, and infrastructure improvements implemented in recent years. We extend our sincere gratitude to our partners for their vital contributions to this operation.”
While fire crews worked to extinguish the fire and prevent it from spreading to the nearby woods, the house was deemed a “total loss,” the Edgartown Fire Department’s Facebook post read. A “fire watch crew” was assigned for the day to prevent the fire from reigniting.
“They say it takes a village, but we really think it takes an Island to do what we do,” the post reads.
Later Thursday afternoon, Edgartown firefighters were still identifying hot spots with a thermal reading device and dousing them with hoses as smoldering areas continued to give off smoke.
Peter Taft, president of the Chappaquiddick Island Association, said they are already working on organizing something to support the family that owned the home, with help from the Chappaquiddick Community Center and the Chappaquiddick Facebook group.
“Like anything on Chappy, once something happens, everyone networks and tries to help out,” Taft said in an interview with The Times.
Editor’s note: Updated with additional information from the Edgartown Fire Department and comments from Peter Taft.