(Eleuthera, Bahamas) – The community of Wemyss Bight in South Eleuthera, battled on Thursday afternoon, February 14th, to successfully stop the spread of a devastating fire that destroyed a two bedroom, one bath wooden home in the settlement.
The home had been occupied by a young couple, Clendinique Ferguson and Altaman Strachan who lived there with their one year old infant son. The three, who were all home at the time, escaped the fury of the fire without injury. According to one of the occupants of the home, a small fire in the yard, driven by steady breeze from the South to South West spread to the building and soon engulfed the structure. Neighbours with water, albeit low pressure, from the public supply and garden hoses, fought to prevent the fire from skipping across a large tamarind tree into nearby structures, averting even more destruction.
Exhausted members of the community battled to stop the fire from spreading.
Paulamae Hall, a local onlooker from Wemyss Bight, shared her opinion on the response to the fire, saying, “We need the fire engine to be stationed in Wemyss Bight. We need our MP to do something immediately with this fire engine situation, right now the water pressure is low, and you can’t even get any water. Thank goodness the locals around were home to help put out this fire.”
It took about one hour for the South Eleuthera Emergency Partners (SEEP) volunteer firefighting crew to arrive on the scene, from their command centre in Tarpum Bay. They were able to bring a larger volume of water to what remained of the burning frame.
Former President of the Rotary Club of Eleuthera, and SEEP volunteer, Mr. Ian Carey helps to put out the fire on what remained of the destroyed structure.
The fire on Maynard Blvd, just across from the Wemyss Bight community park, happened about 2 minutes away from a new emergency center currently being constructed by SEEP intended to respond to such emergency situations.
