Vendors watched, helpless, as stalls went up in flames

Wendy Constantine watched as her stall, Moby Dick Restaurant and Bar, on Potter’s Cay Dock, burned to the ground on Sunday night. 

“It was overwhelming,” said Constantine, who is president of the Bahamas Dock and Allied Venues Association.

“It’s devastating to see what you’ve put into something, your life savings, and the memories.

“Now you have staff unemployed, so it’s an overwhelming feeling right now at this time.”

Constantine said she had her stall for 11 years and employed three people.

Police said the fire started shortly before midnight on the eastern end of the dock. It was unclear what caused the fire. Some vendors speculated that it was the result of a lightning strike.

Ormanique Bowe, president of Potter’s Cay Dock Fish, Fruit and Vegetable Vendors Association, said six stalls and two boats were destroyed and two other stalls were damaged. 

Constantine and other stall owners gathered in the ruins of the still smouldering ashes of their stalls yesterday morning. 

Blackened and charred doors were heaped in a pile.

A twisted light pole, partly blackened by the blaze, was bent and touching the ground.

Old gas tanks and other cooking appliances were visible. Ash and debris were everywhere. Remnants of a wooden dock were smoking well into the morning.

People view the charred remains of stalls which were destroyed by fire at Potter’s Cay dock on Sunday night. TORRELL GLINTON

Two boats, a 35-foot and a 45-foot, burned and sank. 

The ground was infested with nails. Pieces of charred wood with an assortment of nails stuck out and upright sat at nearly every inch of the site. Hurricane roof straps riddled with nails were also strewn about.

At nearly every inch, vendors and visitors had to watch their step.

Denise and Lester Rolle said Blue Waters, their stall of 30 years, is gone. 

Mrs. Rolle said they got a call after 11 p.m. that the area was on fire. 

She said she called the fire department and the couple raced from their South Beach home to Potter’s Cay Dock. 

“When we got here, they weren’t here,” she said. 

When firefighters finally arrived and extinguished the blaze, Mrs. Rolle said, she couldn’t believe the extent of the damage. 

“Thank God no one got hurt,” she said.

“That’s the main thing, but it’s like you have to start from scratch.”

The Rolles estimated that they lost between $80,000 and $100,000 in supplies and appliances.

Asked if they had any way to bounce back, Mrs. Rolle said, “No. We will need assistance.”

A fire at the Potter’s Cay Dock late Sunday night destroyed several stalls and small fishing boats.

Nearly all of the stall owners said they did not have insurance to rebuild.  

Henry Bannister, a conch stand owner, said he was on his boat when the fire started. 

“It was a mess last night,” he said.

“After staying on my boat and looking to shore and seeing the eastern side of Potter’s Cay engulfed in flames, [it] was heartbreaking for me. I started to shake.

“You had a boat behind the stall with two persons on it trying to get from the dock.

“So, I had to go and assist them from the dock. Two tourists came in their boat to pull them off and we anchored them further out from the fire.”

Gregory Bowles, another stall owner, said the fire was traumatic for him to watch.

“Me and my fiancé were still inside prepping for breakfast for this morning,” he said.

“There was a big gust of wind, there was a large bang, and boom. I looked out the side window and saw this big, yellow blaze and I immediately called the fire department.”

He added, “I watched everything until the fire department reached.

“It was very traumatic. My heart is still beating fast now. I’ve never experienced anything like that.”

Bowles said his stall only received smoke damage.

“We only got smoke damage but my fellow vendors, I feel for them,” he said.

“I know what it is. We experienced the shooting incident, the department policy, the pandemic and now this. For them, I know it’s very heartbreaking for a lot of them. My heart goes out to them.”

Aretha Bastian, owner of Tall Boys Conch Stall, said she has no idea what her next move will be. 

Bastian owned her stall for 25 years and employed two people. 

“We have persons who depend on the stall for daily bread and we don’t know how we will get started but hopefully things get started for us quickly,” she said. 

Six stalls were destroyed and an additional two were damaged by fire at Potter’s Cay Dock on Sunday night.

Her husband was still out in the boat fishing and had not yet heard the news, Bastian said. 

Minister of Tourism Dionisio D’Aguilar said in the House of Assembly said yesterday afternoon that he visited the site on Sunday night and was “shocked and dismayed”. 

“I watched in horror…as businesses were destroyed in minutes,” D’Aguilar said. 

Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources Michael Pintard toured the site yesterday morning and pledged to assist the vendors.

“Our hearts go out to the vendors and their families who rely on this business,” Pintard said.

“It is incredible, the intensity of the fire, and you can see by the level of damage that it is going to take a while for a number of these vendors to rebound.

“What is also true is that the damage to the stalls, I believe about seven stalls, will also affect other vendors. We are going to move as quickly as we can to ensure that the rebuilding process commences.”

Asked what the government intends to do to help, Pintard said, “We are going to take our time.

“We will do a careful assessment. We will hear from the vendors. I will have discussions with my colleagues. I don’t control the purse of The Bahamas, as you are fully aware, and so will have a candid discussion and we will do our best to assist.”

He met with vendors yesterday to conduct an “assessment of the damage”. 

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