Chilmark firefighters quickly quelled a small fire at Blue Heron Farm early Tuesday morning. Chilmark fire chief David Norton said the call came in at 3:30 a.m. from an automatic fire alarm in the farmhouse. The fire was in the wall of the main house near a porch that had a gas grill on it. Firefighters had the fire out within a matter of minutes, Mr. Norton said. “Very small, very contained, extinguished quickly,” the fire chief said. He said the cause of the fire was the gas grill.
Tom Wallace of Wallace and Co. Sotheby’s Realty who leases the property said there were tenants in the farmhouse at the time of the fire. Everyone left the house and there were no problems, said Mr. Wallace, who praised the quick response by the fire department. “They were remarkable, surgical really in how little damage they did in putting out the fire,” Mr. Wallace said. “Makes you proud.”
Mr. Norton said Chilmark and West Tisbury firefighters responded to the scene; he said the first responders were two firefighters who live in the vicinity of the farm.
The fire chief said the incident serves as a reminder to homeowners about attentive use of gas grills. “I would emphasize that people should pay attention to proper usage of their gas grills. Make sure they are turned off when not in use and make sure they are cleaned properly,” Mr. Norton said.
President Obama and his family are due to take over Blue Heron Farm for their annual summer vacation next week. Mr. Wallace said he expected to have the farmhouse wall repaired in short order.
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