The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

RESIDENTS formed a bucket brigade from the shoreline and scrambled onto rooftops to fight a massive Bailey Town fire on Wednesday morning, as flames tore through homes in Bimini and reignited long-running anger over the island’s firefighting resources.

Police said officers were alerted shortly after 6am to the blaze on Kings Highway, where they found a two-storey concrete-and-wood structure housing four residences fully engulfed in flames.

The Ministry of Social Services later said at least five homes were affected, while Island Administrator Evak Arthur estimated that close to 20 people were impacted.

Bimini and Berry Islands MP Randy Rolle said smoke inhalation forced “one or two” people to be airlifted to New Providence for medical observation. He said there were no serious injuries or deaths.

Residents said only one fire truck was available to respond — the truck stationed at the airport — and that it arrived late as residents battled to contain the blaze.

Naria Rolle said the fire began in her home around 5am with the sound of crackling near her daughter’s bed.

“It was the plug from the air condition and I woke her up, and I woke up,” she said. “I turned the breaker off immediately and I grabbed the fire extinguisher, but the pin would not pull.”

Ms Rolle said she and her daughter, who is seven months pregnant and already experiencing a high-risk pregnancy, tried to smother the flames before fleeing with only the clothes they were wearing.

Ms Rolle said her daughter was treated at the local clinic for several hours after the fire. She said she had no insurance and built the house from the ground up when she was 23.

She said walking away from the house in the darkness left her with an indescribable feeling of emptiness, though she was grateful to the community and her MP for joining the fight against the flames.

“It's still saddening, to lose everything,” she said. “People might say, you have your life. Yeah, you have your life, but when you struggle most of your life, when you get to a place where you feel comfortable with your life and for that to just be yanked away from you, just in the blink of an eye? I'm a single parent, and I have a daughter in college. It's just in an instant. And yes, you could rebuild, you could rebuild, but the scars still there, the memories that you lose, it's still there. That's your home.”

“We need financial help, we need clothes, we need things to put on, we need a house, we need a roof over our head,” she added.

A livestream from the scene showed residents hauling buckets of water from the shoreline as the fire swallowed the structure and threatened to spread. Men could be seen on a rooftop trying to beat back the flames.

One resident questioned during the livestream whether the scale of the damage could have been reduced if proper firefighting equipment had been immediately available.

“I don’t know how many signs we need to get a working fire truck in Bimini, Bahamas, but the signs are everywhere,” the person said.

“Without a fire truck, it’s very hard to stop this raging fire,” the resident said, adding that two elderly residents lived in a nearby structure the community was trying to protect. This is hard for Bimini.”

Police said the fire was eventually brought under control with the help of volunteers, but the structures sustained extensive damage.

Bahamas Power and Light said power was interrupted to Bailey Town and Canton Line because of the fire. Crews worked to repair a low-voltage circuit and power lines affected by the blaze. BPL later said power had been restored.

The scene echoed previous fires that exposed Bimini’s weak firefighting capacity.

In March 2023, a massive fire destroyed several structures and left 11 families homeless. Residents complained then that they had to fight the blaze with buckets and hoses and appealed to the government to station a working fire truck on the island.

Cecil Dames, who helped fight Wednesday’s fire, said Bimini needs a more practical solution than relying on a conventional fire truck.

“We need action as in we need some kind of pumps and hoses,” Mr Dames said. “We don’t need a fire truck. It’s too hard to maintain in Bimini with the elements.”

He said strategically placed pumps and hoses capable of drawing seawater would allow residents to respond faster when fires break out.

He said residents ultimately contained the fire themselves, but said that should not still be happening in 2026.

He said an airport fire truck eventually arrived and helped, but came late.

“It did help, but it ran out of water and had to leave and come back,” he said.

Alexia Duncombe, whose nephew, brother and cousins helped fight Wednesday’s fire, said the island appears trapped in the same crisis it faced in 2023.

Meanwhile, Attorney General and acting National Security Minister Wayne Munroe said islands like Bimini need pumps capable of drawing and pumping saltwater.

Government officials expect to acquire 20 fire trucks, but Mr Munroe said fire trucks can take 12 to 18 months to manufacture.

He emphasised the importance of household fire preparedness, noting that Ms Rolle had a fire extinguisher but could not get it to work.

“If she could have gotten it to work, the fire would not have spread and would have been put out,” he said.

He said one lesson from the blaze is that residents should ensure they have functioning fire extinguishers in their homes.

In a statement, Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis expressed sympathy for those affected and said he directed that all available government resources be mobilised to help them.

The Ministry of Social Services said its team on the ground has begun providing immediate assistance to displaced residents. Assistance includes emergency shelter, food vouchers, counselling, clothing and other essential support services.

Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper and Social Services Minister Barbara Cartwright travelled to Bimini to assess the damage, meet affected residents and coordinate relief efforts.