An early morning fire on the sleepy island of Bimini ripped through multiple homes leaving at least a dozen people homeless.
Three homes were ablaze when the officers responded, one concrete home and two wooden homes.
With the help of residents, the fire was eventually extinguished. There were no injuries or loss of life reported.
Prime Minister Philip Davis, Minister of Health Dr. Michael Darville, and West Grand Bahama and Bimini MP Obie Wilchcombe, who is also the minister of social services, and a team from the Ministry of Social Services visited the island and met with those who lost their homes.
The prime minister listened as several residents recounted the ordeal. Five homes were destroyed leaving 12 people homeless.
Pastor Oral Ellis said he was doing his morning mediation when he heard an unusual sound.
“All of a sudden, I heard a loud sound and that’s when I got out of bed to see what was going on,” Ellis said.
“I said, ‘This sound like this is in my house.’
“When I got up, the neighbor was calling for me to get out the house. …
“I was already awake and I walked out to see what happen.
“When I got out the door, I looked up and my bedroom upstairs, that was fully engulfed.
“So, the only thing I could do was go back in my bedroom and grab my wallet, my phone and my glasses.
“I needed them three.”
Ellis went back inside to grab another personal item but at that point the smoke was too thick inside and he was forced outside.
Aside from what he managed to save, Ellis only had the boxers he was wearing and the shirt on his back.
He said he is thankful that he survived and that his wife, who is not mobile, was not home at the time. She was visiting his daughter, he said.
Hugh Smith said he woke up at 5 a.m., as he usually does on Sundays, to cook for his family.
Suddenly, he heard someone outside making noise. When he went to check, he realized that there was a fire.
“So, automatically, I went into action,” he said.
“I grabbed two water hose and set them up and try to maintain the fire, but it got a little heavy.
“All of sudden, I saw the whole of Bimini. I’ve never seen nothing like this in my life.
“I just moved from Grand Bahama and I’ve been here a year and a half. Let me tell you something, Bimini people are together. They came out in their boxers [and] their nightdress. They came out.
“Bimini people, I really appreciate y’all. I never seen nothing like this in my life. The whole of Bimini was there this morning with bucket in their hand.”
Indeed, residents worked together, along with police, to put the fire out and save nearby homes.
Photos and videos of the inferno were widely shared on social media yesterday morning. One image showed a tower of fire, with thick black smoke on top, devouring a two-story home.
Another showed a resident, equipped only with a small garden hose, attempting to snuff out the flames of a home that was fully ablaze. At a nearby residence, that was only five to eight feet away, residents were dousing the roof with water, trying to keep the embers at bay. But the fire raged.
From the nearby beach, a resident filmed the dancing flames tearing through a building as the sun rose over the island. A plume of smoke billowed over Bimini’s turquoise waters.
Residents complained that the homes could have been saved had the island had a working fire truck.
Press Secretary Clint Watson said two police mechanics will visit the island today to inspect the island’s fire truck.
Wilchcombe said housing was already secured for those who lost their homes.
“We have secured apartments,” he said.
“In one case, or two, [Bimini] Big Game has provided for staff members. We have secured apartments.
“We have also secured for you to visit Mucka-Mucks to purchase clothing.
“Our Social Services team has already prepared the slips for you to be able to go to the shops immediately to purchase food.
“Tomorrow, a team will come in from Urban Renewal to begin assessment of your damaged areas, so that work can begin as soon as possible, however it can be done.
“I spoke with the minister responsible for foreign affairs and the director and they are sending in a mobile unit to deal with passports. …”
During the meeting with residents, the prime minister said, “We are here to help you.
“I am here to say that whatever we can do to restore your lives towards normalcy, [we will do].
“It’s going to be traumatic when you lose almost everything that you worked for. You have to start all over again. It’s not easy.
“Sometimes out of tragedy comes opportunity. Let’s look at what can happen now that you are where you are.”