Prompt action and unexcelled presence of mind on the part of Frank Bodfish and Capt. Hartson Bodfish averted what might have been a serious fire in the Barnacle Club at Vineyard Haven yesterday forenoon. Very few members frequent the club during the morning hours and it was by the merest chance that Frank Bodfish entered the room about 10:30 and found it filled with a dense, suffocating smoke.

Realizing the danger of being overcome by the smoke, he first called Capt. Bodfish from the hardware store below, and gasping their way through the smoke and fumes which rendered them half-blind, the two men located the fire in the upholstery of the large mission divan, which graced the room.

It was only a few feet to the wash room where buckets and water were obtainable, but in the smoke filled room, with their senses reeling from the effects of the poisonous fumes, the task of bringing out even one bucket of water assumed heroic proportions.

The task was accomplished, however, without either of the men losing consciousness, although they were staggering on their feet as they dashed water on the blazing upholstery which was dragged out on the floor and the fire extinguished.

While the damage was very slight and the fireproof building was in no great danger, it seemed quite possible that had the fire not been discovered when it was the clubroom and furnishings might have been damaged to a great extent.

No theory has as yet been advanced regarding the origin of the blaze.