By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Chief Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

AS firefighters continue battling a series of bush fires in Abaco, Central and South Abaco MP John Pinder said he has asked police to be on the lookout for potential arsonists, believing some of the recent blazes may have been deliberately set.

While fires in Sweeting’s Village had been brought under control, officials were alerted to a new blaze in Bahama Palm Shores — a residential community in South Abaco — on Monday night, as well as another fire flaring up east of Spring City.

Firefighters say a nearby debris site in the Spring City area is fuelling the latest flames, complicating efforts to contain the fire.

Mr Pinder said the new fires in the area appeared suspicious.

“It’s looking more and more like arson, because fire doesn’t go upwind and these new fires that sprung up last (Monday) night that ran down the ridge line towards Spring City was started upwind of everything else,” he said. “ So, fires don’t go upwind.”

Central Abaco Fire Chief Danny Sawyer raised health concerns over the smoke coming from the site, warning it may be toxic to Spring City residents.

“Who knows what’s in there,” he said. “It’s toxic. It stinks and it’s not white and it’s not black. It’s white and blue.”

Roscoe Thompson, chairman of the Marsh Harbour/Spring City Township, criticised both the current and former administrations for what he called poor oversight of the debris site.

He said the Minnis administration should not have allowed the site to be placed there in the first place, and blamed the current PLP government for failing to properly supervise it or equip it with the necessary resources.

According to Mr Thompson, the company responsible for managing the site was warned a week ago that the fire was approaching.

“Now, the lay down site is smouldering,” he said.

Wildfires have ravaged Abaco for over a week, destroying a utility shed at Cable Bahamas and disrupting daily life. Strong winds pushed flames across roadways, threatening schools and communities.

In response, 12 additional firefighters — eight from New Providence and four from Grand Bahama — were flown in to assist teams already stationed in Treasure Cay and Marsh Harbour.

The island also received support from a US-based water plane, arranged with the help of Mr Pinder and local second homeowners, which has played a key role in the response.

The aircraft has completed more than two dozen water drop missions over fire-affected areas.

No injuries have been reported, but the fires have reignited political criticism over the government’s emergency preparedness and disaster response capacity.

Some residents have questioned the role of the Disaster Risk Management Authority (DRA), asking where the agency is during a crisis of this magnitude.

“The DRM should be ashamed,” Mr Thompson told The Tribune yesterday.

DRM executive chairman Alex Storr said while the agency is monitoring the situation, it is not directly responsible for managing the aftermath of fires.

“We were never directly called upon to help and as it is, unless it’s declared a national disaster by the prime minister, we don’t have the authority upon anywhere other than co-ordination,” he said.

Mr Storr said the agency has provided assistance in that capacity but noted that police have since indicated the fires are under control.