The Tribune

ELEUTHERA – On Valentine’s Day, a young couple and their infant child lost their home to a fire in Wemyss Bight but escaped without injury.

“We got the call that afternoon,” said SEEP (South Eleuthera Emergency Partners) volunteer Ian Carey, who operates out of the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) in Tarpum Bay – a 30-minute drive away.

“We gathered up our volunteer firemen and headed to the scene. When we arrived, the wooden building was fully engulfed in flames. A half hour to 45 minute response time is a long one with a raging fire.”

Neighbours had tried to extinguish the fire with garden hoses without success due, in part due to the low water pressure in the area.

Clendinique Ferguson, Altama Strachan and their one-year-old son occupied the home.

As reported by The Eleutheran newspaper, Paulamae Hall, an onlooker, said: “We need the fire station in Wemyss Bight. We need our MP to do something immediately with this fire situation. Right now the water pressure is low and you can’t get any water. Thank goodness the locals were home to help with this fire.”

SEEP’s four-man volunteer crew used the water from their truck to fight the fire and also drew water from the sea.

Their Wemyss Bight Emergency Operations Centre (WB EOC), which is still under construction, is located just five minutes away from the scene of the fire.

Had it been operational, Mr Carey said, a team would have reached the fire quickly.

Members of SEEP sent out an urgent appeal for support in getting the facility up and running.

The blaze was caused by a small debris fire nearby that was spread by the wind.

Mr Carey cautioned residents to refrain from lighting fires during the dry season.

At the time of the fire, word was spread by Danielle Gibson who posted this plea on Facebook: “Residents of Wemyss Bight, Green Castle, Waterford, Deep Creek Bannerman Town, and John Millars, please support the work that SEEP is doing.

“A fire is blazing right now in Wemyss Bight and we have to wait on emergency vehicles from Tarpum Bay... Let’s work together to make this building happen. It will be to everyone’s benefit!”

SEEP is a non-profit organisation headquartered in Tarpum Bay that has operated the fire and ambulance services for South Eleuthera since 2006. They work in conjunction with government agencies and partners and rely mostly on fundraising to operate their programmes.

SEEP is in the process of completing a modern EOC located on Cotton Bay Road, renamed the Chris “Fireman” Brown Road (after former resident and Bahamian Gold Medalist, Chris Brown).

“Based on the already successful model in Tarpum Bay but with more sustainable features, we are about 75 per cent completed,” said Shaun Ingraham, director of SEEP, who is also a volunteer fireman.

“The structural work, electrical and plumbing has been completed and the roof is on. The 30,000-gallon water storage tank has been placed in the ground. Sustainable features will include solar operated pumps and a composting garden.

“Approximately $32,000 is required to complete the stucco, interior walls, doors, landscape and the rest of the electrical and plumbing. The fire truck and ambulance for the Wemyss Bight EOC (WB EOC) is already on hand. We are targeting a Spring 2013 opening but are in need of more funds.”

Communities that will benefit include Wemyss Bight, Green Castle, Waterford, Bannerman Town, Princess Cays, Deep Creek and Cotton Bay, which has a population of 2,500 and homes, some of which are valued as high as $2 million.

The ambulance services will also service Princess Cays and the cruise line.

In 2011, a house fire in Green Castle claimed the life of 83-year old Lena Daisy Brown.

The EOC Master Plan document states: “The building structure is designed with simple, cost-effective, and well-known building practices, while utilising new green materials and technologies in creative ways. Sustainable energy, ecology and water systems for the building and site have been developed for both functional day-to-day operations and emergency situations.

“The EOC building design follows the guidelines and recommendations for Island-wide environmental renewal as stated in the 2010 planning report ‘A Shared Vision for South Eleuthera’. New buildings planned within the South Eleuthera community will benefit from this demonstration.”