Deadly fire
Tragedy struck in the small inner-city community of Edie Lane in downtown Kingston on Thursday night as one of two brothers, who were both trapped inside their small, mostly wooden home as it was gutted by flames, died before they could be rescued by firefighters.
Seven-year-old Daniel Davis, whom firemen found huddled in a corner of the house along with his 11-year old brother Terri-Junior Parkes, died after receiving severe burns all over his body. Terri-Junior, who miraculously managed to survive the fire, was admitted to hospital in critical condition.
According to the Constabulary Communication Network (CCN), at approximately 10:30 pm on Thursday fire was seen coming from the home at Lot 16 Edie Lane. Residents called the Fire Department, which dispatched two units from the York Park Fire Station to the scene.
The firemen were eventually able to extinguish the blaze, and after entering the house found the two boys huddled in a corner of the room with burns all over their bodies.
Daniel, however, had been burnt to death.
Terri-Junior was taken to the Kingston Public Hospital where he was admitted.
According to 68-year-old Ambrozine Beckford, who was on the scene during the fire, and whose home is among the row of dwellings at Lot 16 Edie Lane, men tried unsuccessfully for several minutes to rescue the two boys from the house before the firemen arrived.
“They tried hard to rescue the boys dem but them couldn’t get them out,” she said. “Them kick and them kick and them kick but them couldn’t open the door ’cause the door was locked from the inside.”
Though the fire did not spread beyond the house in which both boys died, Beckford said that she was afraid after hearing that the house was on fire as she was alone in her house.
“I was frighten bad, it was me alone in the house. But then I decide to pray. I was standing in the midst of prayer, and then some of the next door tenants come and take me out,” she told the Observer.
The whole ordeal, she confessed, had left her feeling weak.
Beckford also told the Observer that the guardian of the two boys, who was identified as Owen Thompson, had locked them inside the house before going to work, and was at work when the fire began.
Thompson was yesterday taken into custody by the Kingston Central Police. It was not immediately clear whether he had been charged with an offence.