Children and the elderly need added protection as deadly fires claim lives
Churches in Jamaica are being urged to monitor the homes of the most vulnerable for fire hazards during their community outreach initiatives to shut-ins and families generally, as a wave of deadly fires has claimed the lives of several children and senior citizens in recent times.
The most recent fire, which claimed the life of three children in St. Ann, has shocked the nation. In that incident, two-year-old Tavarno Mattis, three-year-old Tashawanie Mattis, and seven-year-old Tashana Mattis were all burnt to death on Sunday, January 12.
According to reports, the three children were at home with their grandmother and a fourth child in Walkerswood, St. Ann, when the fire started. The three deceased children were in one room, while the fourth child was in a room with the grandparent. The senior citizen managed to escape the fire with the child who was already in her room. The mother of the four children was not at home at the time of the fire, which took place at around 2:24 am. Among the state agencies investigating the matter is the Jamaica Fire Brigade (JFB).
“The grandmother reported that the house had no electricity and was being lit by lamps. She stated that she awoke during the night to find the room where the children were sleeping engulfed in flames,” Commissioner of the JFB, Stewart Beckford, reported.
Director of Women, Children, and Adolescents Ministries at the Jamaica Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Dr Lorraine Vernal, noted that the church has a role to play in ensuring that the most vulnerable in society are protected from fires and other incidents.
“The church has access to many places that maybe some of our other entities don’t. Let’s use it not only to keep church but to help to instruct and impact families so we can have societies that are good and where people can survive,” she said.
She noted that even instructing the elderly on how to secure a candle when lit and providing instructions on how to ensure their personal safety while at home are messages that the church can share during visits to interact with these individuals, who are often called “shut-ins.”
“The sad thing, though, [is that] many times they’re living by themselves, so sometimes by the time help gets to them it’s too late,” she said.
Dr Vernal said churches do have programs where members visit the elderly to provide food, comb their hair, provide spiritual guidance, and paint their houses, among other things. She noted that in her own church community, the youths especially would take on this initiative; however, she believes this area can be better structured given recent realities.
“It has to be intentionally and systematically set up that we may have a listing of the persons. Okay, the church is in this community, so we find that we have 40 elderly persons, and we have 20 of them living alone. So we know we have to go and check with them now, and with these realities, we say, okay, so if they don’t have electricity, we’ll find out if it can be used or if we can get, you know, one of those battery things or something like that that they can utilise,” she explained.
“But we have to reach out as God’s people. So the people know that it’s not only about coming to church and certain things. It’s about knowing that you are okay.
We love you, and we are not only saying it; we are doing it. So they have to do the assessment too when they go to the visits to look if they have candles and if they have wire thrown up, and probably if they want to regularise the electricity, they can probably engage the JPS (Jamaica Public Service) on their behalf and that sort of thing,” she explained.
She said even reaching out to an electrician on the behalf of a family, so they can have the utility regularised, is an act that can save lives. She noted too that senior citizens are not aware of discounts or special plans put in place for them to access utilities and medications, and so the church can have open discussions on these matters so that these vulnerable persons are aware.
There were several incidents where senior citizens lost their lives in house fires last year. In some of these cases, these persons were living alone.
