Report into Morris-Julian's death will open fresh wounds, says relative

A relative of former Arima MP Lisa Morris-Julian said the family is not anxious for the release of an investigative report into the causes of a fire which claimed the life of Morris-Julian and two of her children.

The relative said it will only reopen wounds that have barely begun to heal.

Morris-Julian, the then D’Abadie/O’Meara MP and Minister in the Ministry of Education, her daughter Xianne Julian, 25, and son Jesiah Julian, six, lost their lives in a fire which also destroyed the family's home on Farfan Street, Arima, on December 16, 2024.

Before the 2025 general election, former national security minister Marvin Gonzales said he would try to get the report into the public domain.

The report was compiled by a three-member investigative committee chaired by former chief fire officer Roosevelt Bruce and appointed by the Ministry of National Security on December 20, 2024.

The findings were submitted to the ministry for review by then national security minister Fitzgerald Hinds and the National Security Council in January. Hinds had previously assured the findings would be made public, but it was not.

Bruce told Newsday all he knew was that the report was requested, it was done by the committee and he said he had no opinion on what was done with it.

Head of the Northern East Division ACP Rishi Singh said the police investigation into the matter was still receiving attention therefore the enquiry was ongoing. He said he should be in a better position to give a status update into the investigation by the end of the month.

Morris-Julian’s uncle, James Purcell, said the family got an “unofficial report” but declined to say from whom. He said it gave the family some closure and did not believe releasing the report would do any good.

He said it was up to Morris-Julian’s widower to reveal that information, but he believed its release would open more conversation about the incident.

He said Morris-Julian’s mother was now beginning to accept the loss of her daughter and grandchildren. And Mother’s Day was extremely difficult for the family since Morris-Julian’s grandmother died on Mother’s Day in 2021 during the covid19 pandemic, and the fact that Morris-Julian was not there made it worse.

He said since 2020, the family had suffered “a wave” of deaths, including Morris-Julian’s father in March 2024, several cousins, a few friends and, of course, Morris-Julian and her two children.

“It’s overwhelming. We’re just numb right now. We tried, but, during the general election, we couldn’t even show support for those who supported us during that difficult time.

“Personally, I believe releasing that report is not going to bring back Lisa and her children. The family is still hurting, and it’s not going to make us feel better.

“We are aware of what went on that morning, and we are not blaming the Fire Service. Other people are blaming the Fire Service but at the end of the day, the Fire Service only has so much equipment, and they fought with the equipment they had.”

However, he criticised former political leader of the Progressive Empowerment Party and Minister in the Ministry of Housing, Phillip Edward Alexander, for his response to the tragedy, saying Alexander’s politicising of his nieces’ death was “disgusting.”

After Morris-Julian’s death, Alexander made several social media posts attacking then housing minister Camille Robinson-Regis for grieving openly for her friend. He called her a hypocrite, saying she should cry for all those who died in tragic incidents, including fires, because of the ill-equipped Fire Service.

The Fire Service Association (Second Division) president, Keone Guy, has been calling on the new government to release the report.

Guy said that while he had not yet contacted the Minister of Homeland Security, Roger Alexander, directly about the report, the Association had sent him a letter requesting a meeting, at which releasing the report would be one of the matters discussed.

He believed the contents would shed light on the consequences of the decade-long policy of “defunding” the Fire Service, and it would give the family some closure, showing the officers went “above and beyond.”

He said the association was renewing the call to release the report, not because its members believed the former minister’s life was more important that any other citizen but because, he believed, it was the only report commissioned into the Fire Service and the investigators would have identified the issues affecting the service.

“Every time we raised the issue of funding and lack of resources, the then administration always responded by saying the Fire Service Association was being alarmists and, on many occasions, stated the stations were well-equipped and the officers had all that was necessary for them to do their jobs.

“We believe the report into that fire will definitely prove, without a shadow of a doubt, that there are a large amount of issues affecting fire officers, and on that day it reared its ugly head, contributing to the loss of life of the minister and her two children.”

Guy said it was not the first time loss of life could have been prevented if fire officers had the necessary resources. He gave the example of Kemba Phillip-Morris and her eight-year-old daughter, Zaya of Siparia, who died in a fire in April 2023, even though their home was close to the fire station, because the appliance there was not functional.