Part of the Menemsha Market was heavily damaged in a fire Thursday night likely sparked by a utility pole that went over in heavy winds, Chilmark assistant fire chief Timothy Carroll said.

Mr. Carroll said firefighters from all three up-Island departments responded to the call at 4:40 p.m. Thursday. When they arrived, the downed utility pole had set a section of the market on fire where it made contact. The Island had been experiencing stormy conditions all day with heavy rain and wind.

“During a pretty nasty part of the storm it appears a gust of wind came in and snapped the pole,” Mr. Carroll said. “The wire may have caused the building to catch fire.”

He said on arrival, firefighters couldn’t approach the building due to an electrical wire near rainwater on the ground. While firefighters waited for Eversource to shut down power at the Menemsha substation, fire spread into the first floor of the building. The power was cut after about 10 minutes and firefighters promptly entered the building and extinguished the fire, Mr. Carroll said.

Eversource spokesperson Reid Lamberty said more than 1,000 Chilmark and Aquinnah homes lost power when the utility pole snapped, bringing down a main power distribution line for the area. He said power was restored to most homes within the hour. Eversource crews remained on the scene throughout until power was completely restored just after 1 a.m. Friday.

Mr. Carroll said emergency responders left the scene at 6:45 p.m.

He said the inside of the first floor of the market, which is closed for the season, was heavily damaged.

“They’re going to have to do major renovations to the first floor because of the fire damage,” he said, adding:

“Everyone did a wonderful job thanks to the mutual aid teams who helped do the work of overhaul.”