Massive Fire Destroys Nassau Buildings By Cruise Port

The entire Kelly's dockyard was burned to the ground by a fast moving fire. The blaze completely gutted the Kelly's buildings on the harbourside, and destroyed the buildings on the Bay Street side. At 12:45pm firefighters were still trying to put the fire out. (Photo: Jessica Robertson/Tribune)

Massive Fire in Downtown Nassau 

Destroys Buildings Near Waterfront

Cruise Passengers Disembark Late

UPDATE: February 16th:  Could cost up to $100M to rebuild the damaged downtown stores.

Hope is that this could spur the revitalization of downtown Nassau.   Read More

According to The Tribune, fire broke out at Kelly's dockyard around 7:45 AM Monday and spread to nearby buildings east of the Bacardi Store on Bay Street and East Street.

Firefighters finally contained the blaze after about  8 hours, but not before several buildings were completely destroyed and several others suffered damages including Green Parrot Crew Pub, the Bacardi Building, the old John Bull Store, and Betty K Agencies Ltd.   According to police reports the entire block of buildings affected by the fire have been extensively damaged and are not salvageable.

Tribune photographer Felipe Major was injured in the blaze after falling off of the Bacardi Building's balcony. The Tribune posted Felipe Major's Photo Album of the Fire (click to see amazing photographs of this tragic fire).  Felipe is being treated at Princess Margaret Hospital and has been put on a ventilator to clear his lungs of smoke.  Speedy recovery, Felipe.

The Tribune posted a time line of the day's events and will be providing an update in tomorrow's edition. For more information on the fire, see Fight to control downtown fire.

Also see Blaze in downtown Nassau destroys several buildings and threatens others [NEW PHOTOS] which was published by Bahamas Island Info.

When passengers on Disney Dream and Carnival Glory arrived in Nassau, Bahamas, early this morning, they thought they were about to disembark on a pleasant day in this charming island town.   Instead, they were kept from disembarking the vessels until it was deemed to be safe.   Both ships extended their stays to allow passengers time in port.

Carnival Cruise Line, Disney Cruise Line, Norwegian Cruise Line, and Royal Caribbean International all have ships calling in Nassau, Bahamas this week.   At this time there is no word of itinerary changes as a result of the fire.    We will bring you updates should that become necessary. 

We thank the Tribune for their excellent coverage of this fire.   We hope that Felipe recovers from his injuries.  Our hearts go out to all that were impacted by today's fire.