A FIRE ripped through a building operated by the Bahamas Agriculture and Marine Science Institute (BAMSI) on Thursday night.

In a statement, BAMSI said: "The senior management team was alerted on Thursday evening, at approximately 10.30pm, to a fire in the upper floors of the Levy Building, East Bay Street, Nassau, where the Institute’s Distribution Centre operates from. The fire department had earlier been alerted and responded immediately with four fire trucks to the scene.

"The blaze was quickly contained and subsquently extinguished. There was no damage to the Distribution Centre which occupies the ground floor of the building, and as a result, the sale of fresh produce will continue as usual.

"The staff and management of BAMSI would like to thank the Royal Bahamas Police Fire Services for their highly professional service, given their quick response in containing and extinguishing the fire."

Earlier this year, BAMSI began to search for a new building to house the Distribution Centre with more space and to provide increased parking space for customers. It hopes to make an announcement shortly on relocation efforts.

BAMSI's Andros site was hit by a fire in January 2015, when a male dormitory was gutted by fire. It later emerged that the building was not insured at the time.