(Eleuthera, Bahamas) – It is a smokey night, yet again, for many across Eleuthera with bush fires burning, and very dry weather conditions. On approach to the Glass Window Bridge late in the day on Friday a bellowing cloud of smoke could be seen over the North Eleuthera settlements of Lower and Upper Bogue.
Getting closer to the smouldering plumes revealed the primary source of the smoke was fire burning deep in the bush behind the North Eleuthera Airport, which sent towering clouds of smoke in the air and blankets of the eye irritating, sinus aggravating, scent entrenching stuff across homes in the surrounding area. “We’ve been shut down since the weekend”, shared a resident of Upper Bogue, who said Friday was much better compared to what they had experienced on Thursday, describing even thicker white smoke settled around the town.
Smoke over North Eleuthera as seen from the Glass Window Bridge on Friday May 17th.
Smoke behind North Eleuthera Airport as seen on Friday May 17th.
Driving along Eleuthera the story is much the same in several areas. Large areas of burnt land is seen in Upper Bogue and around silos in Hatchet Bay. In Governor’s Harbour between the main town and Balara Bay, smoke has been streaming across the sky during most of the past week.
In Palmetto Point on Friday, small fires were seen in bush close to the DUMP.
Driving from Tarpum Bay to Rock Sound on the final straight stretch of road, smoke was in the air.
In Rock Sound it was much the same, with plumes of smoke in the Friday afternoon air.
In Deep Creek a resident communicated on Thursday that bush fire has been burning along the park site for most of the week. “We Need Fire Hydrants”, said an irate member of the community. “We get a truck with one load of water, it runs out and the fire keeps burning”, they added.
FIRE HYDRANTS NEEDED: Tanker truck arrived 45 minutes after fire truck ran out of water. 1 refill worth of fire fight was possible before running out of water again.
“They try to fill it from a well but they can’t get the generator going to run the pump. They finally get a pumper truck so we get one more load of water (big deal). Locals are with hoses and buckets again while the empty truck sits and watches. They actually fill the truck overnight with a garden hose. I mean, come on!!! Today someone came with some heavy equipment (when the fire truck ran out of water again) and started cutting a fire break. Only 2 houses were ever threatened – but it was a few sleepless nights for these folks.”
Needless to say, it’s a smokey night, yet again, for many across Eleuthera.
Battling fire with limited resources to save homes in South Eleuthera
