The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

A FIRE truck has been sent to Abaco to help battle a major blaze.

Chief Superintendent of Police Will Hart said yesterday that while the fire is containable, law enforcement officers were sent from New Providence in case it worsens.

Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper visited Abaco on Saturday to survey the situation.

Volunteer fire chief Danny Sawyer said yesterday: “It’s bad right now. We’re in Bahama Coral Island. We’ve got two fire trucks here with about 20 firemen.”

Last month, fire services and volunteers fought to contain four separate fires in the Marsh Harbour and Spring City areas, prompting the closure of a section of the island’s main road.

Mr Sawyer said it feels like he has been fighting fires for 17 days. When he spoke to The Tribune yesterday, he was waiting for a truck to return with water to fight the blaze.

“I’m going to try to back burn all of this before nightfall, trying to get rid of all this excess fuel,” he said.

Roscoe Thompson, chairman of the Marsh Harbour/Spring City Township, said he did not know many people who evacuated their homes.

“People have been protecting their homes,” he said. “That’s been a good thing, putting sprinklers on their roofs, watering down their roofs, you know, trying to keep the property damp, and that’s been going on through the whole thing.”

He said the fire was moving northward.

“We haven’t had rain in 40 days, and it’s so dry and with the wind, it’s just pushing,” he said. “There’s very little wind, but it’s pushing. It’s so much fuel. There’s so much underbrush. All them trees, all the grass, everything that’s there is just fuel for the fire.”

Earlier this month, police charged an Abaco resident with arson in relation to one of the recent fires.