Saturday 5:35pm: Fire flared up in areas around Delancey Hill in Deep Creek,  South Eleuthera on Saturday sending smoke in the sky that could be seen from hills in Governor’s Harbour. Volunteer Fire fighters were on the scene this afternoon, with their truck and with bulldozers cutting defensive fire breaks to protect homes in the community. It is a large fire in South Eleuthera that now burns from Waterford to Deep Creek and nothing is currently stopping its growth. Resources are being put to protecting its spread to inhabited areas of the Settlements. 

Large plumes of smoke rose into the sky and winds were blowing them across much of Deep Creek throughout the night and into the day.  Eye witnesses say, firefighters had been on the scene throughout the night putting out road side fires while they were unable to reach others that would flare up at uncomfortably close but inaccessible spots. 

Administrator Symonette, RBPF Superintendent Davis, SEEP’s Ingraham and others were on hand helping to pool efforts in protecting the homes around the area of Delancey Hill, in Deep Creek.

 

 

Earlier reports:

Friday 12:00 noon, March 15th –  24 hours after the large bush fire was established in Waterford, South Eleuthera, the scene looked ravaged, but thankfully only to the vast land of bush and not to any of the homes that were being threatened on Thursday afternoon. Light smoke is still coming up from the smouldering wood however defensive fire breaks have been cleared by bulldozers around homes and the GE reverse osmosis water facilitiy in the settlement.  Several firetrucks and other heavy equipment were brought to the scene late on Thursday from as far north as James Cistern. With the help of favourable winds, the fire was contained late in the afternoon.


Road side, along the road from Waterford to Deep Creek, the day after the fire that threatened…

 

Thursday Reports

6:30pm: Fire trucks from James Cistern and Governor’s Harbor are also assisting in addition to SEEP trucks from Tarpum Bay.   2 DC9 tractors from Rock Sound (Paul Knowles and Andy Kemp) are cutting fire breaks behind the homes. The feeling is that as the afternoon comes to an end, the fire is contained, but worry about wind shifts and flare ups persists.  (Kristel Kingston).


Late in the afternoon: Bulldozers and Firetrucks help to contain fire.

4:36pm: Massive Bush fire threatening Community of Waterford – dozens help fight with buckets of water A large fire continues to burn out of control at this hour in Waterford, with dozens of people from local and surrounding settlements fighting to keep it back from homes in the settlement being threatened. A SEEP fire truck from Tarpum Bay has been on scene also trying to save the homes, with another from Governor’s Harbour coming to assist later on.

By mid-afternoon there were at least three homes that were imminently threatened with fire reaching their back and side yards.  The fresh water plant on the road to Deep Creek was completely surrounded by flames and several telephone poles were in danger of burning down.  Volunteers were pulling hoses across roads and carrying buckets into the bush in an attempt to knock down the flames, but the strong winds were helping to keep them going .

Tractors were being brought to the settlement in an attempt to cut a fire break around the homes and the water plant. 


Residents from communities in South Eleuthera, lined the road taking buckets of water from slow running hoses to the edge of a back yard where the fire burned.

 


Getting water to the scene is one of the biggest difficulties facing volunteer fire fighters.

The great difficulty facing fire fighters was that with no fire hydrants anywhere in the vicinity and no way to get water from the plant, their closest source of fresh water was at the end of Deep Creek where there was a pipe cleanout, for the settlement’s water supply.  The hose and the cleanout did not have complementary fittings so it was a struggle to attain the water.  According to one source it took the fire truck over a half hour to go from the fire to Deep Creek, fill their tank and return.

All this while the smoke bellows across the community and towers into the sky from the raging fire, that is very close to several homes. 


Fire raged Thursday afternoon in bushes around the outer perimeter fence of the GE water plant in the Waterford Community.