The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Chief Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

A RAGING six-day fire in Wemyss Bight, Eleuthera, has forced residents to battle the blaze themselves due to a reported lack of resources — once again raising concerns about the country’s vulnerability in responding to fires.

Edranique Thompson told The Tribune that residents feel “neglected” and “overlooked”, having worked day and night to protect their homes and livelihoods.

She said the fire broke out near a farmland on Saturday. Since then, efforts to contain it have largely been led by the community.

“The fire marshal, he said to just to let it burn,” she said. “That was his words to us. But we said this morning, imagine if we had listened to him, we would’ve been facing a mass tragedy. We would’ve had massive home loss.”

The blaze, one of several recent fires in the country, reportedly began after nearby farm workers used the slash-and-burn method. The fire quickly spread out of control.

Initial help came from a non-governmental fire truck stationed about an hour away, but residents say it only responded on the first night and, at last report, has not returned since.

“They did their best with outing the fire in the initial area that they did,” Ms Thompson said. “So when they left, them being the professionals and us being the civilians, we thought that okay, they did what they supposed to do, and we thought it would have been over.”

However, she said the next morning, the flames had reignited and spread even further.

The Tribune understands that two to three operational fire trucks are on the island, but none are stationed in the Wemyss Bight area.

The situation prompted a community effort to mobilise resources, with some carrying buckets of water and others bringing shovels and pitchforks to dig trenches to prevent the fire’s spread.

In a statement yesterday, FNM deputy leader Shanendon Cartwright called the lack of sufficient fire trucks in the country “totally unacceptable” and urged the government to do more to equip firefighters with the necessary resources.

However, Works Minister and Central and South Eleuthera MP Clay Sweeting described the issue as an “age-old problem” left unaddressed by previous administrations. He said the Davis administration is committed to resolving it.

Residents say the lack of government action has made them feel like the government doesn’t care.

“We need a fire engine desperately,” Lyle “Woody” Hall said.

“Last night, it was a disaster. I didn’t get any sleep at all. It came kinda close to my house. Every day when we think it’s getting better, then the next day, it gets worse.”

He said the situation has left residents on edge, with many losing sleep out of fear the fire could spread to their homes.

His neighbour, Emily Brown, told The Tribune she woke up to the scent of smoke after 1am yesterday and met residents battling the blaze.

She said the situation is disheartening because a community member recently lost their home to a separate fire, and no one wants a repeat of that incident.

For Kayshela Collins, the fear of losing her newly built home is also a major concern.

The single mother, whose home is still incomplete, said she would hate to see her investment destroyed by the fire.

“I know the fire is a good way from me, but when you are home sleeping at night, you don’t know how fire can run, and the fire truck is many miles away from us,” she said.

Residents also claim the situation is affecting their livelihoods and health, with some missing work or needing to visit the clinic due to smoke inhalation.

They’ve reached out to several officials but say their cries for help are falling on deaf ears.

“We would’ve called for the water trucks and fire trucks, and hopefully, we get a response from them this time because we’ve been calling for water trucks from two nights ago, and they said they were on their way, but they never came,” Ms Thompson said.

Mr Sweeting commended the community for joining together to fight the fire and said the government is working on improving firefighting resources in the country.

“It is imperative that Family Island communities have the resources to protect their homes and communities from fires and a multi-ministerial approach is the effective way, so we can ensure our people have the resources to fight fires,” he added.