The Tribune

By Ava Turnquest

Tribune Chief Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

SOUTH Andros MP Picewell Forbes yesterday lamented the devastation and significant loss of public records after a local government complex burned to the ground in Fresh Creek, Andros, on Friday.

Investigators yesterday concluded an electrical shortage sparked the blaze that destroyed the complex, according to Fire Chief Walter Evans.

Mr Forbes said: “That’s a lot of records, what was lost. Was it health, birth records, local government district records would have been lost? It’s really challenging where we are. 

“It could have been prevented but if it was electrical, I know people in the Family Island might have had inadvertently hooked up a Christmas tree or something. It is very sad.”

Officers responded to the fire shortly after 4pm on Friday but were unable to extinguish it despite assistance from area residents. The building burned as Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis visited Andros as part of his Christmas tour of the Family Islands. A video posted to Dr Minnis’ official Facebook page showed Dr Minnis and a group of onlookers, including police officers, watching as flames shot up from the building and debris fell to the ground. No fire truck was at the scene. 

“We ain’ even have no fire truck, nothing,” said one resident could be heard complaining in the video. “Nobody doing nothing, everybody just standing up, just watching it burn. Police them on the site and they can’t even do nothing. They just watching it burn. Y’all do better, man.” 

Meanwhile Mr Forbes told The Tribune the incident evidenced longstanding challenges faced by Family Island communities that lack adequate infrastructure and resources to combat fires effectively.

He said the complex housed the Ministry of Social Services, Department of Labour, as well as the local district council office.

“All the records,” Mr Forbes said, “contracts issued from the old days. It’s where the first clinic would have been housed, a lot of records would have been in that building, old health records. 

“This fire was just adjacent to the Anglican church that burnt in that same area several years back. The whole issue of fire engines and prevention is a big issue in the Family Islands. We need hydrants in these settlements, all things that we must look at if these islands are to really grow and expand.”

Mr Forbes suggested the government look at how fire resources are utilised in small American counties, suggesting tools like a mobile pump system that could be towed by truck could be implemented here.

Mr Forbes said: “We need the urgency of proper improvements, installation of equipment that can help us alleviate these fire situations. There is no hydrants in these densely populated communities. The whole thing having a fire engine, getting it covered, then the parts. It’s an issue. I think we need to – across the board – look at this whole issue of fire prevention and how do we fight fires in the Family Islands.”