The Tribune

By FARRAH JOHNSON

fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

BRUSH fires that threatened to spread to several communities throughout Abaco over the weekend have now been contained, according to RBPF Director of Fire Services Kenrick Morris.

Fire rescue workers on the island said there have been a series of fires over the past several months. On Saturday, the Marsh Harbour Volunteer Fire Department put out a request for volunteers to help contain the island’s most recent brush fire in Great Cistern, which was threatening to spread to Dundas Town.

When asked to give an update on the situation, Supt Morris told The Tribune the fire was now “under control.”

“As you know, there were two separate fires in South Abaco and North Abaco. From my understanding, the one in North Abaco is extinguished (and) just smothering and in South Abaco, it’s just some small areas left burning, but the rain is down so that is assisting them in their efforts.”

Supt Morris said officials have not yet determined whether the fires were caused by human interference or natural combustion. Still, he insisted the island had the tools it needed to respond to the situation appropriately.

“Resources were not the problem in Abaco,” he said. “They had a total of about five fire appliances on the scenes as well as tractors and drayloaders assisting with their efforts. They had ample manpower and they had a number of volunteer firefighters and residents assisting, so manpower or fire appliances was not a problem.”

George Cornish, Abaco’s chief councillor, also said that firefighters, along with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and local heavy equipment operators, had been battling the fire for about four days.

“Everybody was out trying to control it because homes and churches in the community were being threatened,” he said. “The fire started on S E Bootle Highway sometime last week, then it moved into the area of Bahama Coral Island and Great Cistern and then into the Murphy Town area.

“After late Saturday evening we got it under control, but it flared up again on Saturday night and didn’t go out until around 2.30 on Sunday morning. It seems to be under control now though, because we got some light rain this morning and that seemed to help a bit.”

When asked whether he was in a position to elaborate on the extent of the damage the fires caused, Mr Cornish said he was unaware of anyone losing their homes. Still, he said he did know of some families who were forced to evacuate because of the smoke.

Juliette Deal, a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) representative that specialises in debris and waste management, also worked to get the flames under control. She told this newspaper that Saturday’s fire was the “biggest one” yet.

“I guess the embers and the wind led it all the way to Great Cistern and Murphy Town and at that point, it became very clear that we were in a situation that needed all hands on deck,” she said, recounting the incident.

“We worked together as a team to put the fires out, because they weren’t just in one place. That was our biggest issue. The fire was literally surrounding Murphy Town and Great Cistern. They had to take the drayloaders and create breaks around the different areas to assure the fire wouldn’t jump...so it really was a tremendous group effort by all of the teams that were on the ground.”