Edgartown firefighters extinguished a Saturday afternoon fire at Rockfish restaurant, the second downtown Edgartown restaurant fire in as many weekends.
The restaurant at the corner of North water street and Mayhew Lane was closed for business Saturday but will reopen Sunday afternoon.
Last weekend, fire departments responded to an early Saturday kitchen fire at the Atlantic Fish and Chop House about a block away from Rockfish.
Fire chief Peter Shemeth said it appeared the back exterior wall on the first floor of Rockfish, where the kitchen is located, caught fire internally. Firefighters responded to the fire at about 2:30 p.m. and cut off a portion of the wall on the outside and extinguishing the fire, Chief Shemeth said.
“We ended up cutting into the wall to find out what was burning,” he said “It was extinguished relatively quickly and with very little damage on the outside.”
The chief said the investigation is continuing into the cause of the fire.
Oak Bluffs provided mutual aid on a hot and humid day, and Chief Shemeth praised the response from the volunteer department. “It was one of those days, everybody was probably at the beach and everything else, and left the beach to come to another kitchen fire.”
The weather was also a factor when fighting the fire. “A day that hot and you’re working, and all the gear on,” Chief Shemeth said. There were no injuries to firefighters, he said, and the department worked to make sure firefighters got breaks. Oak Bluffs fire personnel were on hand to check the firefighters’ blood pressure and vitals and to make sure they were rehydrated.
“The guys did a fantastic job,” the chief said.
The restaurant was closed for the remainder of the day Saturday, but they are going to be open Sunday, Chief Shemeth said. Town health agent Matt Poole was on hand Sunday “and went through and checked everything and gave them the okay to open,” Chief Shemeth said.
“Fortunately it [the fire] happened during the day when someone could see it,” he added. “In the evening or after it was closed it would have been a lot different.”
Rockfish thanked the community for their concern in a post on their Facebook page Saturday evening.
The post added that the restaurant will reopen Sunday at 2 p.m. with special wood-fired menu options.
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