Raging wildfires in southwest New Providence threatened to scorch dozens of homes and businesses, singed vegetation and burned perilously close to a telecommunications substation last night.
Residents off Adelaide Road walk through thick smoke late yesterday as a wildfire moved dangerously close to homes in the area.
It was a major bush fire that covered a very large area, Chief Fire Officer Inspector Walter Evans confirmed to the Bahama Journal.
Teams of firefighters had been dispatched to battle the blazes and traffic was being diverted because thick smoke had blanketed the area.
Firefighters soon moved to evacuate residents of Coral Heights. Some of them claimed the blaze had been burning since Monday.
“It posed a threat to the [BTC] substation,” Inspector Evans said. “There are a number of homes that are on the southern side of Adelaide Road and our number one strategy is to ensure that the fire does not get into the vicinity of that general area.”
Adelaide Road, west of the Coral Harbour roundabout, was ordered closed and motorists were warned away from the area.
“This fire is one of a major proportion and the fire services is utilizing all of its resources at the moment to ensure that the fire is brought under control and extinguished. One of the major factors in the rapid spread of this fire has been the wind factor,” he said.
As visibility plummeted to zero, officials who manage the nearby Nassau International Airport, which handles thousands of travelers on a daily basis, were keeping a close eye on the situation in case they had to employ emergency strategies.
But no such moves were made up to press time, General Manager of the Airport Authority Idris Reid told the Journal.
Frightened residents began using garden hoses to keep the inferno at bay. They doused the roofs of their homes as the blaze ‘jumped’ from one side to the other of Adelaide Road.
There were also flying embers, authorities warned.
Fire control first received a call about the blaze at 10a.m. Wednesday morning, Inspector Evans said.
He remained confident that the fires would be brought under control “shortly.”
“We have three emergency units that are being utilized. Those units have been strategically positioned and we are going to ensure that the direction by which the fire is going to blow, particularly in relation to the homes and the residents are protected,” he said.
Coral Harbour resident, Peter Deveaux-Isaacs, told The Bahama Journal that visibility was poor in the area when he headed home last night.
“You couldn’t see anything,” Mr. Deveaux-Isaacs said.
“The fire jumped the road right down from the Batelco building,” he said. “When I passed they had about two fire engines out there. They are watching the wind and there were some people who were beginning to soak their roofs in particular to make sure that flying embers do not affect them.”
He added, “I first saw the fire [Wednesday] night about 10:30 and reported it. This morning it was still burning. I couldn’t tell if it had increased or the fire people had showed up last night. I was able to drive through, but you could see that the fire was still going.
“There were a lot of people gathered out and you could see that people were a little concerned that the fire may spread with the wind and put their homes in danger. No one is permitted to go down Adelaide Road.”
Another resident of the area, Laurie Dames, said some people were forced to turn around because of the fire and residents had to close their windows to block out the smoke.
Behind her home, off Adelaide Road, she said the fire had spread to bushes at a nearby lake.
“At a new house across the fence, quite a number of people came there to monitor it. What we’re doing now is wetting the grass. We have the sprinklers on. We’re just watching,” Ms. Dames said.
“Little things are flying around, burnt paper. You shouldn’t go outside. It’s kind of uncomfortable.”
Fire trucks from NIA eventually raced to the scene to help fight the blaze. At that point, some residents poured in the streets to try to fight the fire.
By: Tameka Lundy, The Bahama Journal
View this dramatic photo by Omar Barr.
