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A report from Giovanni Dennis
On January 16, 2018, two children died in a fire at Walker's Place of Safety in St. Andrew.
Three years later, the pain of those deaths remains, along with questions about how the fire started.
It was after midnight, and even before seeing the flames, you could hear the sirens on Lyndhurst Crescent, where Walker's Place of Safety was located.
Thirty-four wards of the state survived the fire. But soon, the terrible news came that two had not.
It was the children's screams that woke neighbour Kimani Anderson. Barefoot, he rushed to help.
"The flame was coming over to that room. The ceiling ketch a fire and we have likkle fire debris a drop inna a di same room. One a di girls dem me see like fire inna har head. You have another one, fire deh pon har shoulder. Even now dem have di scar. Me run towards them aid, try get them out to the front, then me start hear screaming from the same room."
The memory still pains him.
"Each time me seh, you know, me aguh sleep is like the screaming, me start hear voices a di likkle girl... but as time goes by, eventually me get over it, but not forgotton," he said.
"Me feel hurt, trust me," he lamented at the thought that he still has to pass the place the home once stood.
"That was a night.... Life has been lost and me cyah feel good over that...cause sometime me remember how the kids dem a call up me name and it sound a way so me nuh bodda try reflect back pon that," Eric Wallace, who lives on the other side of the home, recalled.
But three years later, how are the survivors?
Rosalee Gage Grey, the CEO of the Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA), which monitors residential child care facilities, said the 34 children were reintegrated into other facilities and "from all accounts are doing well." They are still receiving psychosocial support.
The Jamaica Fire Brigade reported that an electrical short circuit caused the Walker's Place of Safety fire. The Ministry of Youth also carried out a review.
Human rights advocate Susan Goffe, however, has many unanswered questions.
"We don't know if their deaths were preventable, whether the systems that were responsible for them failed, whether any particular agencies of the state that had responsibility for their care failed," she pointed out.
Documents from the Office of the Children's Advocate show the home had an illegal electricity connection at the time of the fire.
Six monitoring officers at the CPFSA oversee 52 children's homes, with each one responsible for roughly nine homes.
Should the monitoring officer assigned to Walker's Place of Safety have known about the illegal connection?
Mrs Gage Grey said "even up to the time of the fire, they would have been up to code based on the reports (CPFSA) had."
"Remember now, monitoring officers are not technical in terms of electrical wiring and works and so. They can only report on what they see or if it is reported that there is a difficulty. It is the general electrical inspectors or it is the Fire Brigade who give the certification."
But why was a private children's home stealing electricity?
Robert Morgan, Minister of State in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, with portfolio responsibility for children's homes, said it is "unnecessary because the CPFSA and the ministry supports (sic) our homes" and "inappropriate...because no institution affiliated to the government should trespass on the works on the Jamaica Service Company."
Efforts to contact the former head of the home, Grace Allen, were unsuccessful.
The Fire Brigade had last inspected the home in July 2017 - six months before the fire.
But Emileo Ebanks, Public Relations Officer at the Fire Brigade, said the brigade does not look for illegal connections when it inspects a property.
"As the operator, the safety of the facility is also somewhat upon you. There were some outstanding situations with that particular premises and we wrote to the operators, pointing out the breaches and remedies for the breaches as well," he revealed.
The Office of the Children's Advocate is still investigating the circumstances of the fire.
The police say the matter is now before the coroner's court.
In November 2019, Supreme Ventures committed to providing fire equipment and training for 30 of the 52 homes. Fifteen homes have so far been upgraded. It was paused in 2020 because of COVID-19 and should resume this January.
State Minister Robert Morgan said administrative improvements have also been made, with the ministry "going through with a fine-tooth comb" all applications from homes seeking to be licensed, to ensure they fulfill the requirements and are financially viable.