The Tribune

By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

Dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

FIRE officials at the Royal Bahamas Police Force responded to a fire at Restview Memorial Mortuary on Thursday evening that resulted in minor damage to the crematorium.

According to eyewitness reports, the incident occurred sometime after 5pm when the casing around the smoke stack/ chimney on the roof caught fire during a cremation process.

Keith McSweeney, the owner of Restview, told The Tribune that they were in the process of cremating a body at the time when the fire occurred.

“We called the fire department. The fire occurred in cremation room off from the chapel, and that is where the damage occurred; it was just to the stack, and there was no damage anywhere else,” he said.

“We were cremating somebody and normally you get smoke coming from the stack, but it probably got overheated and fire caught onto the casing around it,” explained Mr McSweeney.

He assured that there was no damage to any other section of the building. Mr McSweeney said rumors that the funeral home had burned down and that all the bodies were burned up is not true.

In a video post on social media, an employee, speaking on behalf of Restview, assured persons via WhatsApp video post that the bodies of their loved ones are safe. “We had a little incident at crematorium, no place else in the funeral home and so your loved are safe. We want to thank the Royal Bahamas Police and the Fire Department for responding quickly and swiftly,” said the spokesman.