PHOTO OF THE DAY
Two-year-old Malik Carby, brother of Oneika McCrae, who perished in the January 16 fire at Walker’s Place of Safety, holds a rose during a floral tribute at a memorial service for Oneika and Anna Kaye Moreland at Faith Tabernacle Shiloh Apostolic Church in east central St Andrew yesterday.
TRUDY PARKER, mother of Oneika McCrae, one of two wards of the state who perished in the January 16 fire that destroyed the Walker’s Place of Safety, yesterday expressed dissatisfaction with the fire report, calling for further investigation into the incident.
“From January the children them burn up and a now them a go tell me say a short circuit cause it. No, no, I don’t feel so,” Parker exclaimed yesterday during a memorial service for the two girls at the Faith Tabernacle Shiloh Apostolic Church in east central St Andrew.
The report from the fire department revealed in late March that the blaze resulted from an electrical short-circuit that originated in a dorm on the first floor to the west of the building. It further disclosed that the home was last inspected by the fire department on July 28, 2016, and found to be compliant with standard fire-prevention practices.
PLACED AT WALKER’S AFTER FIRE
However, speaking with The Gleaner yesterday, Parker rubbished the findings of the report and called for the Government to intervene to find out “what really happened”.
“I can’t be satisfied with it (the report),” she said. “I’m still grieving. I can’t cry enough. Every day since, I wonder if she really gone just like that, after I left her in a place of safety,” said Parker, pointing out that 12-yearold Oneika was placed in state care in 2011 after a fire destroyed her one-room board house in Jones Town.
“I struggled to build it back. It’s concrete now, and the arrangement was to let her stay at Walker’s until I rebuild. But they said that I still needed a kitchen,” she told The Gleaner. “They have everything at Walker’s – kitchen, bathroom, everything, yet the place burn down. I am here today, my child isn’t. Even if I get a million dollar now, it won’t help, no amount of money will!” Parker concluded.