Fire Breaks Out At Junkyard Off Hummock Pond Road

The Nantucket Fire Department responded to a large fire that broke out in a junk yard near 84 Hummock Pond Road just before 10 pm. Friday night. The blaze lasted nearly an hour before responding firefighters brought it under control. There were no injuries reported.

Fire Chief Michael Cranson said it was initially reported to authorities as a bonfire.

“So (Nantucket Police) swung by and they confirmed that it was something else, not a bonfire,” Cranson said at the scene late Friday night. “So we arrived, and as you know, coming in here, logistically, there's a little bit of a headache trying to get in here. There's a lot of different things burning. There was a hoop house, some engine blocks, that kind of stuff. So we had to put a lot of water on it to make sure everything was out. So that's been a little bit of the delay, it's a long leg of hose from the hydrant out on Hummock Pond. So it took a little bit of a time to get in here with it.”

Despite the windy conditions, the blaze was brought under control around 10:45 p.m.

On Monday morning, Cranson told the Current the cause of the fire was considered accidental.

"As a result of our investigation of the fire that took place on Hummock Pond Road Friday night we determined the official cause to be accidental," Cranson said. "The fire started in a wood stove that was on the property very close to a Quonset hut-style shed. The stove sat on plywood and was being used earlier that day for about five hours. The area of the stove is where the fire started and we believe that embers from the stove ignited the surrounding plywood and pallets. This ignited the Quonset hut-style shed and all of its contents. There were also four boats that were destroyed and other items that littered the area."

The property is owned by Bruce Holdgate, and is the home of K&R Auto Care.