The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

A MASSIVE fire off East Bay Street yesterday morning destroyed the once two-storey home of the late Sir Milo Butler and almost destroyed an adjacent home occupied by eight people, including three children and a baby.

Property belonging to residents of an apartment complex across the street was also damaged.

Fire Services Surperintendent Walter Evans said the entire fire staff of the Royal Bahamas Police Force had to be called to extinguish the fire – a job that took them about three and half hours to complete.

He described the adjacent apartment as having sustained only “moderate fire damages”, adding that it would be habitable before long.

A woman who lives there broke down in tears as she watched firefighters fight to save her home.

Asked by a neighbour if she was alright, she said: “That’s a stupid question. I trying to stay calm. I can’t live in there. We got nothing out. Documents and everything destroyed.”  

Another woman was also in tears, adding she has a two-month-old baby, all of whose clothes were lost in the fire.  

Long Island MP and grandchild of Sir Milo Butler Lorretta Butler-Turner said she has moved to make sure the residents are accommodated and asked for clothing, blankets and diapers.

She said: “It’s unfortunate. It’s a good thing no one was injured. But a residence that was occupied just a few feet away, basically separated from the house by a wall, was affected. The people living there have now been displaced. I’ve spent all morning dealing with trying to assist the family and provide accommodations for them. I’ve spoken to other government agencies and had conversations within the family to try and get them back into their homes once it’s been fixed. I’m hoping Urban Renewal can assist and donations of food and clothing to them would be helpful. The house is reparable.”

Last night, she issued a plea on social media for people to contribute clothing, blankets and diapers for those affected.

Clothes are needed for two nine-year-old girls, one eight-year-old boy, and a two-month-old baby girl. Donations can be left at the Butlers Funeral Home during normal business hours.

As for the destroyed wooden structure that was once the home of her grandfather, she said: “It was the family house for decades prior to my grandfather being elevated to Governor General. It was still occupied after that. Over the years, after all of my aunts and uncles passed away, the house pretty much became abandoned and business became untenable. Essentially, it falls to the family for us to determine what we are going to do with it but nothing concrete was concluded about what we would do with the building. I was advised that vagrants started living there sometime last year.”

Yesterday’s fire also caused windows in an apartment complex across the street to melt and break. And the bumper and doors of two cars in that yard so melted, rendering the cars inoperable.

The owner of the cars and the apartment complex, Kulis Thompson, said he has lived in that apartment all his life and was one of the people who alerted firefighters to the fire.

“A friend saw the smoke come in from the windows,” he said. “We called the fire department but by the time they came the fire had already spread.”

He added that electricity ran through the destroyed structure and vagrants often went into it “through the back door”.

He said he only has third party car insurance, adding: “I ain’ know who gon pay it.”

He and other residents said they often told the Butler family to refurbish the destroyed structure or break it down.

Ron Smith, one resident, said: “We keep telling the Butlers either break it down or fix it but they ain’t listen.”

Claudette Butler, a resident of the area and relative of the late Sir Milo Butler, said since 1994 the family had planned to build a museum on the property of the now destroyed building. She added that those plans were not concrete. “We’ve lost a lot of history,” she said.