LOCAL GOVERNMENT MINISTER LAMENTS LOSS OF YOUNG LIVES IN ST. ANN HOUSE FIRE
Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Hon. Desmond McKenzie, has expressed profound grief at the tragic deaths of three children in a house fire that occurred at Walkers Wood in St. Ann early this morning.
Three children, siblings 2 year old Tavaughno, 3 year old Tashanie and 7 year old Tashana Mattis perished in the fire.
“This is another painful moment that draws sharp attention to the critical importance of fire prevention and fire safety. My heart goes out to the remaining family and friends, and I am especially thinking about the childrens’ grandmother and the lone grandchild, just 5 years old, who survived the fire.
“We have now lost four children to house fires in these first twelve days of 2025. That is the same number of children who died due to fires over the entire year of 2024. The Jamaica Fire Brigade is ramping up its public education activities through the Fire and Life Safety Programme. I must however, make a national call for us to take far greater care of ourselves and each other. Most fires are preventable, and we have the power, through the actions we take every single day, to ensure that we prevent further loss of lives and property through fires.
“Last year, 27 people died, 79 people were injured and 1,600 people lost their homes because of fires. I am urging every Jamaican to use today’s terrible tragedy to decide, once and for all that together, we will prevent incidents like these from happening again.”
