NFD Extinguishes Two Fires Monday Morning

The Nantucket Fire Department responded to two small fires Monday morning. The first took place at an unoccupied residence while the second fire took place in town-owned housing and resulted in one person being transported to Nantucket Cottage Hospital to be evaluated for smoke inhalation.

Nantucket Fire Chief Michael Cranson said the first fire call came following a regular alarm activation, which occurred at approximately 4:03 a.m. at 20 Union Street.

“It is a pretty regular event but when the crew showed up, they found that there was a small fire in the basement,” Cranson said. “It looked like a fan had burned up and caught some of the cabinetry in the basement on fire. Crews put it out pretty quickly. It ended up being minimal. We were on scene for probably 45 minutes ventilating the house. The house was full of smoke. It was unoccupied.”

The second fire call occurred about two hours later at approximately 6:25 a.m. at 7 Hillside Avenue, which is town housing next to the sewer department.

“Smoke detectors went off and woke up the occupants of the house,” Cranson said. “They smelled something funny and when they went down in the basement, found that there was a fire in the basement. Then they evacuated the house and called 911.”

Cranson said upon arrival to the property, NFD observed smoke coming out of the bulkhead. He said crews went downstairs and found there was a condensate pump from a furnace that was mounted to the wall that had caught on fire.

“It caught on fire, melted, and fell off the wall,” Cranson said. “Our crews put it out with minimal water use. We were on scene for probably about 40 minutes ventilating the house.”

Cranson confirmed the department did transport one person to the hospital from the Hillside Avenue fire to be checked out for smoke inhalation.

"Everything went well. The firefighters did a great job,” Cranson said. “At the fire on Hillside, David Gray from the Sewer Department came over and he was helpful getting things squared away.”