Only the quick action of Capt. Samuel B. Norton, the skill and equipment of the Edgartown Fire Department, the aid of the sprinkler system just installed and not ready to function automatically, and one or two elements of chance such as a lack of wind and the time at which smoke and flames appeared over and through the building, prevented the destruction of the Harbor View Hotel in what was so nearly a disastrous conflagration late Wednesday afternoon.
Friday, May 12th, was a day of excitement over the eastern half of Martha's Vineyard when men from the towns of Edgartown, Oak Bluffs, Tisbury and West Tisbury, and the country roundabout, in all to the number of several hundred persons, labored from 7 a. m. until nightfall, handicapped by a heavy wind, at times approaching a gale, in their efforts to control one of the most extensive woods and brush fires which has occurred on the island in years, if ever before. The property loss runs into the thousands.
COTTAGE CITY, Sept. 26, 1892.
At 11.45 on Saturday night, watchman Lewis rung in the alarm from box 41, at the Arcade, and people jumped from their beds and rushes to the windows and saw, with dismay, the eastern sky brilliantly illuminated, directly over the Sea View House. Cries of “Fire!” “Fire!” “The Sea View House!” “The Sea View House!!” rent the stillness of the night, the light in the heavens contrasting vividly with the darkness, the sky being overcast with heavy clouds, from which at times the rain descended, as if weeping in sorrow over the awful catastrophe.
The Tisbury fire, which began one summer evening in the very heart of downtown Vineyard Haven, destroyed 62 buildings valued at $200,000. Photographs of the center of the village the next morning show smears and patches of black spread across a grid of lanes and roads. Every store but one burned to the ground.
Edgartown firefighters responded Wednesday to a smoky, stubborn house fire at 38 Pinehurst Road. Smoke drifted out of roof vents and open windows as firefighters searched for the source.
A family’s diligence practicing fire drills and working smoke detectors helped a Vineyard Haven family escape a fire on Irene’s Way in the early morning hours Thursday.
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.
Tisbury and Oak Bluffs firefighters extinguished a fire that destroyed a guest house at a home off Border Road in Vineyard Haven late Tuesday. Pets were rescued and a tenant in the guest house is searching for a dog that may have run away after escaping the fire.
