A mother and her son are dead following a massive fire that broke out in The Mud, Abaco on Tuesday evening.

According to police, the fire broke out just after 9:30 p.m.

Radio Abaco Owner, Silbert Mills told the Bahama Journal yesterday that the devastation is unlike any he has ever seen before.

“There are a large number of people that have been displaced as a result of this fire,” he said.

“The mood is morose. We have two confirmed dead that were trapped in the house where the fire began. This has been like nothing that we’ve seen before with fires in the shanty town areas. The fire began shortly after 9:00 p.m. and continued well past 1:00 a.m. The resources from the fire department had no way of fighting this because they didn’t have the manpower, equipment or capacity to move between the houses once the fire began.”

Mr. Mills said people gathered as they always feel as if a fire will break out in the area.

“We wonder when the next one will occur,” he said.

“A team from the Disaster Preparedness Committee and the island administrator has met and will come up with a plan to provide immediate relief and shelter for those who have been displaced from this tragic fire. One compounding effect was the lack of corporation from Mother Nature. The winds were blowing at times at one point up to 35 miles per hour and the fire was blazing like a streak of lightening at times in the wind so with those elements no one could help.”

As a result, Mr. Mills told the Journal that there are a lot of broken spirits in the Marsh Harbour area.

He also said that if another fire happens in the area, the outcome may be the same.

“It doesn’t make a difference whether you had a government owned-fire department or volunteers because the circumstances remain the same,” he said.

“You have homes built with roofs touching and then the winds were almost tornadic in nature. The wind was rumbling like a freight train at times and there were explosion from the propane tanks so there was just simply nothing anyone could do.”

Minister of Immigration, Fred Mitchell also spoke to the Journal early Wednesday and said that people have to remember that Bahamians live in shanty towns as well.

“The shanty town issue is a matter for Urban Renewal and Ministry of Environment,” he said.

“The question of planning permission and permission is a long standing issue and quite difficult to address. I know people automatically connect illegal migration with this area but one of the issues you will find is that many residents are Bahamian citizens so it’s quite complex to deal with. Social Services and Urban Renewal personnel should be in the island assisting in any way they can.”

The Bahama Journal understands that Deputy Prime Minister Philip ‘Brave’ Davis and Social Services Minister Melanie Griffin traveled to Abaco to assure the residents of the government’s assistance.