Crews face weeks of cleanup after a huge fire at the Mattapoisett Shipyard

MATTAPOISETT – Crews in Mattapoisett spent Saturday sifting through charred cars and burned boats, the day after a large fire boat yard.

“Continuous explosions that must have happened one after the other by cars and boats. It was an incredible sight and it’s really amazing that everyone survived,” Mary Pendergast said. “It’s just devastating.”

The fire destroyed five buildings, three dozen cars and more than a dozen boats.

Mary and David Pendergast own the Mattapoisett Boatyard. Their boat was due for repairs but was still in the water at the time of the fire.

“I never imagined something like this could happen,” David said. “The families and people who worked at this shipyard are wonderful people.”

Tom Tower also keeps his boat here. It is one of the few that was not destroyed.

“It’s terrible. They are wonderful people. They didn’t deserve it,” Tower said.

Mattapoisett Fire Chief Andrew Murray said the limited water supply and high winds made this fire a difficult task to contain and extinguish. Fortunately, no one was killed, but one person was seriously injured and taken to the hospital. Three firefighters had to be treated for minor injuries.

Investigators said the fire started accidentally in one of the buildings and is not suspicious.

“Today, we have environmental companies that are working, doing their assessments, making sure that the effluent doesn’t get polluted when it goes back into the ocean,” Murray said.

The area will be closed for several weeks while they continue to clean up.

“I’ve been chief for 14 years and there’s never been a fire like this,” Murray said.