Edgartown firefighters won Sunday’s annual Dukes County Firefighters’ Muster held in Oak Bluffs. Close to 100 firefighters and their friends participated in four competitive events that demonstrated skill and speed.
This is the second year in a row that Edgartown won. All Vineyard towns participated in the muster, and were joined by teams from Carver and Swansea in the muster’s firefighting event.
At a booth with working firefighter lights on top, the Edgartown Firemen’s Association and their Fire House Special Wings won, over 11 other hot competitors, at Sharky’s restaurant’s inaugural Wingfest last weekend, where hundreds of patrons ate more than 5,000 chicken wings to raise more than $5,000 for the Martha’s Vineyard Boys’ and Girls’ Club.
The Edgartown Fire Department is celebrating its 175th anniversary, and so, not for the first time, firefighters from Edgartown will have a prominent place in the Fourth of July parade planned for Monday.
It was the Edgartown fire department that hosted the first Fourth of July celebration in town, in 1844. The party included a lot of local pomp, a parade, plenty of flag-waving, patriotism and a dinner.
The state fire marshal’s office is investigating a fire that destroyed a home in the Dodger’s Hole section of Edgartown last Saturday.
Firefighters worked through the predawn hours to wrest control of the house on Mockingbird Drive that was fully engulfed in flames. The house was unoccupied at the time; the home is owned by Michael Torcia, who maintains full-time residence off-Island.
No injuries were reported, said Edgartown fire chief Peter Shemeth.
