The Tribune

By JADE RUSSELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

jrussell@tribunemedia.net

THE family of 12-year-old Montana Ferguson say they wish it did not take his death in a Crown Haven house fire last year for North Abaco to finally receive a new fire truck.

The donation made by Eagles’ Wings Foundation and its Pathfinders taskforce is the second fire truck provided to the area.

The vehicle is slated to serve the Little Abaco communities and bears the names of Montana and 13-year-old Terrance Williams, who died in a car crash in November alongside his aunt.

In an interview with The Tribune, Montana’s aunt Jacqueline Duncombe said her family was asked whether they were comfortable with his life being honoured through a fire truck donation to North Abaco.

She said residents had been calling on officials for years to provide an additional fire truck to serve the Little Abaco communities.

She described the donation as bittersweet, noting that it took a tragedy for those concerns to be addressed.

“I am grateful now that they have it because now something like this won’t happen again,” she said yesterday. “It still hurts.”

“Y’all should have seen this ahead of time. Prepared yourselves ahead of time for the future. The community was asking for this fire truck for years.”

Ms Duncombe said it took her nephew’s tragic death for change to occur, adding that “at least some good came out of his death”.

Montana died when a fire broke out at a friend’s home where he was staying overnight in August 2025. Neighbours tried desperately to rescue him, breaking windows and throwing buckets of water on the single-storey wooden house as his cries for help filled the air.

The homeowner, Ocianna Scott, and her three children escaped but lost everything in the blaze. Firefighters arrived nearly an hour later from Cooper’s Town, about 40 to 50 minutes away, by which time the house had been completely destroyed.

The tragedy renewed urgent calls for a fire truck and hydrants in the Little Abaco communities.

Ms Duncombe said Montana could have survived had there been another fire truck on the island.

“He would have been here with us,” she said, adding that she trusts God’s plan and will not question why events unfolded as they did.

FNM North Abaco candidate Terrece Bootle said it took just one conversation with Scott P Lewis of Eagles’ Wings for the donation to become a reality.

She said the effort also involved collaboration with Family Island Administrator Stephen Wilson, the North Abaco Pastors Association, and consultation with volunteer firefighter Gary Smith, whose guidance helped determine the most suitable option for Little Abaco.

“From that moment, action was set in motion to secure a fire truck for Little Abaco,” Ms Bootle said.

“Seeing the young men’s names represents hope. The young men possessed so much potential and we honour them. It speaks to our collective determination to move forward.”

Ms Bootle said this is the second fire truck donated to North Abaco by Eagles’ Wings. She noted that the organisation previously built a fire station at the clinic grounds in Cooper’s Town and that the new fire truck was earmarked for Little Abaco following the fatal fire.

She said the truck is currently at a shipping company in Florida and is expected to arrive in The Bahamas next week.

Gary Smith, deputy chief of the North Abaco Volunteer Fire Department, said the existing fire truck in North Abaco is based in Cooper’s Town and remains operable. He said the new fire engine will be used effectively in Little Abaco and is well equipped with bunker gear, hoses and external pumps.

Last November, Sherlin C Bootle Secondary School honoured Montana and Terrance, who were both students at the school. In a Facebook post, the school said Grade 8B and its homeroom teachers created a heartfelt tribute featuring an adorned chair filled with messages, flowers and expressions of love.

The school said the chair symbolised the boys’ presence, laughter and the light they brought to the classroom. The post read: “Though they are no longer with us, this chair remains filled with the love, memories and bonds they created within their homeroom.”