Support for Family of Fire Victims

The Ministry of Education and Youth will be providing support to the family of the three children who perished in a fire in Springfield, Westmoreland, on Sunday, September 4.

This will be done through the Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA).

Minister of Education and Youth, Hon. Fayval Williams, on Monday (September 5) visited the community where she sought to console Adrian Anthony Laing, the single father of the deceased twin boys and their older brother.

Their 12-year-old sister also suffered serious burns in the blaze of the board dwelling and is currently being treated at hospital.

“It is extremely sad. Never in our wildest dream would we figure out that we’d wake up on a school morning and hear about this devastation involving four children, three of whom are dead because of the fire,” Mrs. Williams said.

“So, you can imagine that at the Ministry of Education and Youth, we are very concerned because there are children. We’ve offered our support through the CPFSA, who this morning were here to take information, provide psychosocial support for the family and even financial support whenever that time comes,” she added.

Mrs. Williams said she and everyone at the Ministry is praying that Mr. Laing’s daughter makes it through. She said the little girl may have to go overseas for extensive medical care.

“He talked a lot about his relationship with them and how for a while now he is the sole provider for them. You can see that he is a father who has been involved with his children, taking care of them,” Mrs. Williams noted.

“He talks about shopping for them for back-to-school, pressing the uniforms and laying everything out. He was looking forward to today to take them to school and possibly pick them back up at the end of the day,” she added.

Mrs. Williams said the Ministry will be doing all it can to render support to the family and the wider Springfield community that is suffering from this tragedy, and that the Member of Parliament is also on the ground offering support to the “traumatised” family.

In the meantime, Fire Investigator at the St. James Division of the Jamaica Fire Brigade, District Officer Oneil Kerr, told JIS News that investigations into the cause of the fire are still ongoing.

“We would have been in this space from last night (September 4), and we would have covered a significant amount of ground. As it relates to cause and determination, we would have returned and continued on the path of putting pieces together,” Mr. Kerr added.