This article has been updated to include a response from Roni Deluz, the homeowner, and again to include information from the fire chief’s preliminary report.

Tisbury firefighters responded to a fire in the basement of 209 Franklin street Friday afternoon, resulting in the discovery of unsafe living conditions, fire Chief John Schilling told the Gazette.

A preliminary report released Wednesday said the origin of the fire was likely a clip-on work light connected to approximately six extension cords. According to the report, the plastic wire covering on a cord was “melted and deformed where it entered a socket.” The tenant living in the basement room where the fire began reportedly had filled the room with debris three to four feet deep, according to the report.

The house has been condemned by the town Board of Health.

Firefighters had to dig debris out of the basement to get to the burn.

Courtesy Tisbury fire department

Firefighters had to dig debris out of the basement to get to the burn.

Courtesy Tisbury fire department

Neighbors noticed smoke after a fire was caused by an overload of extension cords, Mr. Schilling told the Gazette Morning morning. He said the cords sparked some debris in a crowded basement space, and the volume of clutter made it difficult for responders to access and control the fire from the basement entrance.

“Access was impeded by the [debris] from the outside, and we weren’t able to access that room from the inside because of a tremendous amount of unpermitted construction subdividing it off to unpermitted bedrooms, closets and storage areas,” Mr. Schilling said. “We literally had to form a line of firefighters digging the debris out of the basement to be able to get in there enough to be able to open the door.”

Firefighters piled the debris outside the house to get to the burn and extinguish it.

Oak Bluffs and Edgartown fire departments also responded to the scene. The West Tisbury fire department covered the Tisbury station. Tisbury police temporarily blocked off the road. Tisbury, Oak Bluffs and tri-town EMS all responded along with the Red Cross, Eversource, the Tisbury department of public works and Tisbury Water Works.

Mr. Schilling said a follow-up investigation with the town’s Board of Health on Saturday found multiple violations of safety codes, especially in the basement, where the space had been illegally subdivided into multiple windowless living spaces. The sizable house, originally approved for eight bedrooms, had been modified to create 13 bedrooms. Three outdoor sheds also appeared to be used for year-round housing, Mr. Schilling said.

“There were portable heaters and clip-on work lights attached to multiple extension cords,” Mr. Schilling said. “Hallways had been chopped up... Every bedroom had a portable heater, hot plates, microwaves, mini-fridges.”

House has been condemned pending safety modifications.

Holly Pretsky

House has been condemned pending safety modifications.

Holly Pretsky

He added that in the basement, there were no functioning smoke detectors to alert tenants of danger.

“With no windows or [means of] egress, had something happened in the night, these people weren’t getting out,” he said.

He said one tenant estimated that 18 people were living on the property. According to the report, neighbors estimated there were 11 tenants.

Mr. Schilling said utilities at the property had been turned off, and tenants had been told they need to find other housing. He said the Red Cross was coordinating temporary shelter.

The owner of the home is Roni Deluz, according to land records. Ms. Deluz sent out a statement thanking first responders and saying she was in the process of legally compelling the downstairs tenant to leave.

Reached by phone, Ms. Deluz said 11 people lived on the property, including herself and members of her family.

“If there were 18 people, I would like to know where they were,” she said. “I’m there everyday.”

She also disputed that the basement had been illegally subdivided, saying there is a spa space on one side, and a basement space on the other.

Town health agent Maura Valley said the building had been condemned pending safety modifications. 

“We went with the condemnation order because there was a lot of overcrowding,” she said.