Posted on 09/06/2001 8:28:48 AM PDT by grahm_crackers
Fire Sweeps Downtown Nassau, Bahamas
By Tosheena Robinson
Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2001; 12:56 p.m. EDT
NASSAU, Bahamas –– An arsonist is suspected of setting a fire that swept through downtown Nassau, destroying a popular market and charring the national museum, police said Wednesday.
The fire began in a bazaar called the Straw Market shortly before 3 p.m. Tuesday, said police Superintendent Marvin Dames. Hundreds of vendors sell straw hats, handbags and souvenirs from wooden stalls at the market.
Witnesses told police that a man used a flammable liquid, possibly gasoline, to set fire to one of the stalls, assistant police commissioner Reginald Ferguson said Wednesday.
"They tried to use fire extinguishers to put the fire out, and in the meantime the man ran away," he said.
Dozens of firefighters battled the blaze for hours before subduing it late Tuesday. Firefighters were still putting out remnants of the blaze Wednesday morning.
Three police officers and a member of the Bahamas Defense Force suffered minor injuries, Ferguson said. No other injuries were reported.
The fire forced the evacuation of hundreds of tourists and businesspeople and damaged a number of buildings along Bay Street, Nassau's main artery and harborside tourist attraction.
"The fire has interrupted the economic livelihood of the ... vendors at the market, and interrupted the ministry of tourism, which is the hub of our economic engine," Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham said.
As the flames spread from roof-to-roof, about 300 guests at the British Colonial Hotel were ordered to evacuate their rooms, said Trudy McKenzie, a hotel manager.
The fire spread quickly, destroying the Tourism Ministry, an office complex called Beaumont House, and the Colony Place, which housed restaurants and other businesses, Dames said. The buildings are made from wood and concrete.
Fire also damaged the roof and a back portion of the Pompey Museum, the country's national museum and one of its oldest buildings, built in the 1700s.
Employees were able to get most of the artifacts and archives out of the museum, which contains native Bahamian and historical pieces.
"Take the artifacts, leave the computers," shouted Renay Curry, a museum worker.
The Straw Market was destroyed – along with most of its merchandise.
"I have to start all over," said Larry Brown, 40, a wood carver.
© Copyright 2001 The Associated Press
Leni
My son gets married on Saturday, and my husband and I gave them a wedding gift of a trip to the Bahamas at a "Breezes" for their honeymoon !!!! Lets see......a resort burn't down last week, shark's are killing people,and they should probably skip the snorkeling huh? - and now, the only good shopping place there is burn't to the ground. Sounds to me like this just might be "The Honeymoon to Hell". hahaha. Oh, I forgot....Honeymooners are too busy to shop - no loss there right ! Karen.
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