Fires
Fires
February 8, 2001
Fire Destroys a Community Treasure; Corbin-Norton House will be Rebuilt
One of the Island's most historic mansions, the Corbin-Norton house on Ocean Park burned to the ground in the midst of a heavy gale Monday night.
By the time firemen arrived, the house was fully involved, fanned by northeast winds as high as 40 miles per hour. Oak Bluffs fire chief Dennis P. Alley said it took firemen from three towns more than four hours to gain control of the fire and prevent it from spreading into the neighborhood. Mr. Alley said he determined the cause of the fire to be electrical wiring in an outlet behind the wall in the first-floor living room.
July 5, 1996
It Took Many Years for the Gazette to Fully Report the Tisbury Fire
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.
July 23, 1965
Oak Bluffs Wharf is Kindled into Destructive Fire
A spectacular blaze, the cause of which is not definitely determined, destroyed the freight she and outer end of the Oak Bluffs steamboat wharf late Wednesday afternoon, involving a loss of property owned by Vincent’s Fish Market, on the dock property, the value of which was set at $30,000 and a loss to the Steamship Authority, covered by insurance, not yet even approximated. The fish market equipment was uninsured, according to David Vincent, the proprietor.
January 15, 1965
Ocean View Hotel is Destroyed by Fire in the Night
The Ocean View Hotel, one of the landmarks of Oak Bluffs, was completely destroyed by fire in the early hours of this morning, as firemen from three towns fought in a brutal 7-degree temperature to contain the blaze.
April 7, 1961
Playhouse Destroyed Main Street Periled
Fire turned the Edgartown Playhouse into a furious inferno Monday night, and three hours after the discovery of the blaze the large, forty-one year old building was completely devastated, despite the long and tireless efforts of firefighters from three towns who poured tons and tons of water into the theatre.
May 12, 1950
Early Arrivals at Fire Scene Could Judge How Narrow the Saving Margin Really Was
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.
January 15, 1926
Bodfishes Heroes of Barnacle Club Blaze
Prompt action and unexcelled presence of mind on the part of Frank Bodfish and Capt. Hartson Bodfish averted what might have been a serious fire in the Barnacle Club at Vineyard Haven yesterday forenoon. Very few members frequent the club during the morning hours and it was by the merest chance that Frank Bodfish entered the room about 10:30 and found it filled with a dense, suffocating smoke.
May 18, 1916
Friday's Fierce Fire
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.
April 1, 1909
Post Office Burned
On Sunday night the Postoffice building at West Tisbury was burned to the ground. The fire was caused by an overheated chimney in an ell of the main building, Mr. James P. West and family occupying this tenement. Mrs. P. L. Cleveland occupied another part of the building, while the postoffice was on the lower floor. All the government property of the value was saved. Mrs. Cleveland wishes to thank all the kind neighbors and friends who so bravely assisted her at the time of the fire, and she assures them their efforts are greatly appreciated.
May 3, 1900
Extensive Forest Fire
The forest fire which races across the large section of the island known as “The Plains” lasted two days and burned through to West Tisbury. More than 200 men had a hard fight before the flames were subdued.
Two and a half hours from the start the fire reached Pine farm, owned by Ariel B. Scott, where the flames claimed a barn, destroyed a corn crib, hen houses and a building in which were two incubators, wagon and tools and a flock of hens.
