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Dozens of Canadians told the Star they felt abandoned and endangered by the all-inclusive resort and Sunwing, the tour operator, as heavy smoke and ashÌýblanketed the property for several days while staff insisted all was fine.

The vacationers said resort staff advised them they could leave, but would have to pay a premium to be transferred to a new hotel.

Some packed their bags, but others felt trapped in rooms with “smoke so thick you could touch it,” because they couldn’t afford to escape. Those forced to stay wondered why fire alarms weren’t activated, and whether they would even wake up in the morning.Ìý

“People startedÌýrunning, screaming and crying,” said Lightfoot, a Canadian Border Services manager. “The fire was outside our room. Never have I had such adrenaline pumping, my body was shaking as I tried to find our passports.”

A resort worker, dressed as a Leprechaun for St. Patrick’s Day, had been joking with guests the morning of March 17 about the smoke-filled sky, assuring themÌýeverything was OK. Now,ÌýLightfoot watched as the LeprechaunÌýclimbed a ladder to spray down the resort’s perimeter with a hose, while a hydro pole burst into flames.Ìý

Lightfoot’s family joinedÌýdozens of others on the shoreline — luggage in hand — awaiting a hotelÌýemergency plan they said never came.Ìý

“Nobody is telling us where to go,” she said. Seven other families the Star spoke with said the same thing.Ìý

Viva Fortuna Beach by Wyndham told the Star that “at no point was the hotel deemed unsafe for guests or at risk of direct fire exposure.”

A resort spokesperson said staff “responded swiftly and decisively” in conducting door-to-door evacuations and relocating guests during a series of “controlled” burns that got out of hand because of high winds.Ìý

“We recognize that some guests experienced disruptions, including smoke exposure, temporary internet and cable outages, and concern over the external emergency response,” Wyndham spokesman Julio LigorríaÌýwrote in an email. “These challenges were the result of broader infrastructure impacts in the region.”Ìý

Sunwing told the Star it was “aware of some local bushfires …Ìýwhich resulted in temporary smoke conditions close to the hotel property. As a precaution, the hotel relocated some guests to another part of the property.” The company said “the hotel has advised that they were in contact with local authorities throughout the situation and were assured that the hotel was safe and evacuation unnecessary.”

Sunwing said its customer relations team has received complaints from some of the travelers and will reach out to address their questions and concerns.

WestJet Group, which owns Sunwing, did not respond to the Star’s requests for comment.

“Security asked them to help,”ÌýLightfoot said. “So they were running from each door, knocking. If somebody had a ‘do not disturb’ sign, security wouldn’t open it. Our travel partners said, that is not acceptable. You must have a key that opens every door.”

Lightfoot and other Canadians told the Star they first noticed the fires near a marketplace about seven kilometres away from the resort the morning of March 17.Ìý

Melanie Le Moine, a realtor from Simcoe County, was in a taxi returning to the resort from the market on a road surrounded by thick smoke and flames.

“You couldn’t see out of the window,” she said.Ìý

When she got back to her room later that afternoon, the balcony was blanketed withÌýash.Ìý

“No fire alarms were going off,” she said. “I booked through a travel agency because I thought they would help me, but this was fend for yourself. We weren’t evacuated.”

Le Moine and her husband spent the next several nights in the smoke-filledÌýroom putting wet towels in the cracks of the doors.Ìý

Kelly Lubits and her husband were at the resort celebrating their 10th anniversary with a group of 50 people, including her three children and parents.

“In the night the amount of smoke coming in was insane,” she said. “We were told we could move to another hotel at our own cost,” which wasn’t cheap, she said — $599 to $699 (U.S.) per night.

Lightfoot said her family returned to their room later that night after sheltering on the beach for eight hours because they didn’t have anywhere else to go.Ìý

She awoke at 4:30 a.m. to a roomÌýfilled with smoke.Ìý

“Are we going to die?” she asked her husband. The smoke was, “everywhere, every street, every direction.”

Lightfoot said a Sunwing rep who was stationed in a “hut” at the resort told her the tour operator would not relocate guests because the Bahamian government did not declare a state of emergency. Sunwing did not respond to the Star’s request for comment on this point.

The mom of three didn’t think the situation could get much worse but on Wednesday afternoon, “20-foot flames” shot up behind the pickle ball court,Ìý“long after they’re telling everybody it’s all under control.”Ìý

Anthony Grenier, a construction worker from Saint-Jérôme, Que., was at the resort with his girlfriend and two young children.

Grenier said his family was staying in a section of the U-shaped resort that was initially less affected by the heavy smoke. Two days later, he said, the room was no longer habitable.

Grenier had been in the resort’s theatre earlier where the hotel was staging a production of The Lion King, but thick smoke prompted many families, including his own, to leave.

Grenier said his family awoke around midnight to “smoke so thick you could touch it.” They couldn’t breathe.Ìý

Grenier said he ran down to the lobby to ask reception for help relocating, but no one was there.

He loaded his family into their rental car, the air visibly thick with smoke.Ìý

“I couldn’t see the road in front of me,” he said. “I didn’t know where I was going but I knew it wasn’t safe for my family to stay.”Ìý

Andy de Vries, a semi-retired farmer from Bayfield, Ont., says he and his partner, who were at the resort with another couple, slept wearing N-95 masks they brought from home.

Despite the mask, he started coughing up black phlegm. His partner, an ICU nurse, insisted they go to a hospital in Freeport, where he received oxygen and intravenous antibiotics for a potential lung infection.Ìý

“There was no evacuation plan,” said de Vries. “We were starting to worry for our safety. We demanded to be moved. The only thing the hotel did for us was arrange for a taxi to leave.”Ìý

Grenier said perhaps the worst part of the trip was the response from resort staff.

“They were making us feel like it wasn’t a big deal,” he said. “They were wearing gas masks to the buffet and acting like everything was normal, business as usual. It was out of this world.”

The eight Canadians I interviewed for this story all told me the resort and Sunwing staff made them feel like their safety didn’t matter.

They thought the hotel and/or tour operator should have covered the cost of moving them when the smoke entered their rooms.

They thought staff at the very least should have been handing out water and masks. Some of the travellers have asked to be reimbursed the cost of their trip, which one person described as a “collective traumatic experience” and not remotely the relaxing holiday they needed and paid for.

Some said they’re not banking on any reimbursement, but wanted to speak out to let others know the danger was real.

They said they tried to post photos and videos to the resort’s Facebook page to warn other travellers but their content was blocked.

The Travel Industry Council of Ontario (TICO), which regulates travel agencies and tour operators on behalf of the provincial government, . A spokesperson advised she would “flag it with our team.”