On behalf of our families, we extend grateful thanks to the Chilmark fire department, under the direction of chief Jeremy Bradshaw, and the Aquinnah and West Tisbury fire departments, for their swift, professional and thorough work extinguishing the fire that destroyed our Chilmark home in the early hours on Sunday, Oct. 18.

While we are devastated by the loss, we’re also keenly aware that so much more damage to neighboring properties might have occurred if not for the firefighters’ able containment of the flames, aided by the blessing of recent heavy rains following an extraordinarily dry summer.

We are also ever grateful to our cousins, Bill and Chris Logue, hunkered down next door that night, who were alarmed by the abnormal glow from the west, and alerted the fire department. The what-might-have-happened thoughts are chilling.

The Vineyard community is so lucky to have its highly skilled volunteer firefighters at the ready, at all hours of day and night, working together to keep our precious Island safe.

Jim, Marie, Emily Logue and family.

Bryn Mawr, Pa., Hamilton, N.J. and Chilmark.