Committee to probe fire which killed MP Lisa Morris-Julian and her children

NATIONAL Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds has announced the formation of a three-man committee to probe the circumstances surrounding the fire which claimed the lives of D'abadie/O'Meara MP and Minister in the Education Ministry Lisa Morris-Julian and two of her children on December 16.

Morris-Julian and her son and daughter perished in a fire which gutted their Farfan Street, Arima home. The deadly blaze led to finger-pointing between the Fire Service and the Minister of Public Utilities over the availability of water for firemen to battle the blaze.

At a press conference at his ministry in Port of Spain on December 20, Hinds announced that the National Security Council chaired by the prime minister instructed the formation of this team to probe the blaze and submit its findings within a two-week period.

The committee is led by retired chief fire officer Roosevelt Bruce who enlisted in the Fire Service in 1980. The team also includes chairman of the Occupational Safety and Health Authority Curt Cadette who is a specialist in HSSE in the energy sector and attorney Ashtie Mahabir of the Ministry of the Attorney General.