Investigators searched Sunday for a cause of a fire that destroyed Nantucket’s 17th-century Veranda House inn and two other historic buildings, as residents mounted a relief effort to help people affected by the blaze.
The Rev. Max Wolf, rector of St. Paul’s Church in Nantucket, said residents have opened their doors to people displaced by the fire, while local businesses have offered food, clothing, and other necessities.
“The amazing thing has been the community response,” Wolf said in a phone interview Sunday. “The outpouring has just been phenomenal.”
Investigators also continued their search Sunday for a cause of the fire that began at 3 Step Lane, but believed it was not intentionally set, the Nantucket Fire Department said in a statement.
The inn, which dates back to 1684, had fire extinguishers and alarms, but no sprinkler system, due to the building’s age, Nantucket Fire Chief Steve Murphy told the Globe in an e-mail.
Along with the hotel, a single-family home built in 1810 at 4 Step Lane and a building erected in 1830 at 5 Step Lane that housed two condos were also destroyed, according to Murphy.
The department’s fire prevention officer last performed a walk-through inspection of the Veranda House with property representatives of the hotel on April 12, according to the department’s statement on Sunday.
At the time of the fire, 36 people were staying in the 18-room hotel, he said.
The hotel, owned by an affiliate of Procaccianti Companies of Cranston, R.I., said in a statement posted to its website that it has closed the Veranda House and the nearby Chapman House inn at 20 North Water St. due to the extent of the damage. The statement did not say why the Chapman House was closed.
Annie Mulholland, a spokeswoman for hotel management, said the company’s concerns were for the health and safety of guests and staff, but did not comment on plans for the hotel.
“We will address future plans for the property once the current situation is settled,” she said in an e-mail.
Management has begun the process of reimbursing people who lost belongings in the fire and refunding bookings.
Crews from the island and several Cape Cod communities battled the fire for much of the day Saturday, and it was mostly extinguished by 8 p.m., the statement said. Firefighters remained at the scene overnight and into Sunday monitoring for hot spots, the statement said.
Three firefighters were hospitalized for heat exhaustion and a fourth for a back injury, according to a statement released Sunday afternoon by the Nantucket Fire Department. All four have been released from the hospital.
Other than the firefighters, no one was injured. There has been no estimate of the cost of damages, the department said.
The fire is being investigated by Nantucket’s fire and police departments, as well as Massachusetts State Police troopers with the State Fire Marshal’s office.
Wolf said that residents brought food and drinks to crews who worked the scene Saturday, as well as to people who were displaced by the fire.
He also leads the island’s interfaith council and said its Nantucket Food Fuel Rental Assistance organization will help those affected by the fire.
“We’ll help them with housing, we’ll help them with food,” Wolf said.
During Sunday’s services, Wolf said he discussed the story of the Good Samaritan — which he had intended to do before the fire — and connected it with the community’s response.
“We all hope that we would be like the Good Samaritan, that we would head toward the need, rather than run from the need,” Wolf said.
As the hotel burned Saturday, he said, “there were heroes at all levels of society.”
Nantucket’s police department, in a statement posted to Facebook, also praised local residents and businesses for helping crews and people impacted.
“It was truly incredible to see the selflessness and quick action of so many to help our community. Even when the area was surrounded by heavy smoke, you all still showed up to do what you could,” the police statement said.
Niles Parker, the Gosnell executive director of the Nantucket Historical Association, said Saturday’s blaze came days before the anniversary of a historic fire that torched much of the island’s downtown on July 13, 1846.
Nantucket’s Great Fire left about 800 people homeless, Parker said, and destroyed about one-third of the island’s buildings.
On Saturday, Parker watched the fire burn from the roof of the museum on Broad Street and was concerned that embers would threaten it.
As he came descended, he passed an old sign advertising the Veranda House that was on display. The sight saddened him, he said.
“Thousands of people have stayed there, and have impressions of Nantucket from that back veranda that overlooks the town and the water,” Parker said. “It’s a beautiful view.”
John Hilliard can be reached at john.hilliard@globe.com or on Signal at john_hilliard.70. Follow him on Bluesky at iamjohnhilliard.bsky.social.