Probe into Fire Service response to Morris-Julian fire

THE Prime Minister has said a probe will be done into the circumstances surrounding the Fire Service response to the fatal fire at the Arima house of D'Abadie/O'Meara MP and Minister in the Ministry of Education Lisa Morris-Julian, which led to her death and those of two of her children.

Speaking at a sod-turning ceremony in Diego Martin on December 18, Dr Rowley told media, “We need to know what happened.

“Why, with a fire station on the corner of Farfan Street, why the fire tender got there at the time that we now know it got there?

“I can tell you we have been receiving conflicting information, and as a result of that, today the National Security Council directed the National Security Minister to come up by tomorrow afternoon with an appropriate committee to investigate why there wasn’t a better response.”

Newsday sent messages to Dr Rowley and National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds for clarification on December 18, but got no response.

On December 17, Fire Service Association (FSA) president Keone Guy told Newsday if the Arima Fire Station had an additional appliance, or if there was another station in Arima, the three lives could have been saved.

On December 16, the Fire Service said when it received the emergency call about the fire at Morris-Julian's home, "the nearest fire station in Arima was engaged in an industrial fire, and the Tunapuna Fire Station was simultaneously responding to another house fire."

In a statement on December 17, Public Utilities Minister Marvin Gonzales rejected a comment in the Fire Service's statement about a lack of water in the Arima area at the time of the fire at Morris-Julian's home.

Complaints about lack of resources for the Fire Service have been made consistently over the last few years, with Hinds insisting it was properly resourced.