24 people perish in fires this year

 

The Jamaica Fire Brigade is reporting that 24 people lost their lives in fires this year.

 

The latest victim, 91-year-old Katleen Scott, died last Thursday at her home in Auldayr, Bluefields, Westmoreland.

 

Speaking Tuesday on the Morning Agenda on Power 106FM, Stewart Beckford, Commissioner of the Jamaica Fire Brigade, said the majority of fire victims were senior citizens and children. 

 

Although there has been a reduction in fire related deaths this year, Commissioner Beckford is still not satisfied.

 

"We would like to see these numbers being further reduced, because the truth is...a number of these fires are preventable," he said, pointing to the fire in Whitehouse, Westmoreland earlier this month which claimed the lives of two eight-year-old boys - Jamar Reid and Romaine Powell.

 

Last month, one-year-old Saden Ennis was burnt to death in a house fire in Mountain View, St. Andrew.

 

These incidents, he pointed out, where the result of children being left alone with an open flame. 

 

 

In the meantime, Commissioner Beckford said investigators are closer to determining the cause of Monday's blaze at the Constant Spring Arcade in Half Way Tree, St. Andrew which affected three shops.

 

Two of the shops were destroyed. 

 

"We are narrowing down what we believe to be the cause of that fire, but we're not there yet. It's another instance of a fire occurring in our market district. And, you know, we have far too may of those occurring. Again, it comes back to individuals taking responsibility for their own actions in terms of how they treat the space in which they vent. We tend to see persons, you know, using fires to get rid of garbage. Again, the issue of the electricity may not necessarily be regularised," he surmised.