KINGSTON, Jamaica — Stewart Beckford, commissioner of the Jamaica Fire Brigade (JFB), is cautioning homeowners to avoid leaving electrical devices charging for prolonged periods, as this could lead to house fires.

His warning follows the tragic death of five-year-old Kimberly Harrison, who perished in a house fire Wednesday afternoon on White Hall Avenue in St Andrew.

READ: 5 y-o perishes in Whitehall house fire

The five-year-old was found in the bathroom of the three-bedroom home which was engulfed in flames moments after she left school. She reportedly had minor burns on her body.

Beckford said that while investigations are still in the early stages, there are indications it may be linked to an electrical issue.

“The room where the fire started would suggest that is the room where the five-year-old was, so what we are leaning towards may be an electrical issue, whether it was a device being charged that may have overheated or whether there was an electrical charge circuit somewhere, but we are not ruling out anything at this time except arson; we know it wasn’t arson. It was an accident,” the fire chief said.

He continued, “As to what the source of the fire was; we are not yet certain whether it was an electrical device that was left plugged in or something, being charged, or we are not sure, but we have pieced it together. We have narrowed it down to a possible electrical fire,” the fire chief said.

Four children who were left home unattended perished in house fires last year.

To prevent loss of lives due to house fires, the commissioner is urging homeowners to pay greater attention to children and the elderly.

“What we also would like to say to homeowners is, especially those homes that you have elderly persons living in and children, is to pay special attention to them. Don’t leave them on their own. The reality is that, based on the data we have, we lost four children last year to fires. They all died in fires where they were left alone, and not only were they left alone, but they had access to items that could have caused a fire, such as matches and lighters, or there were open flames being denuclearised, such as candles,” Beckford said.

The commissioner said following basic safety when charging devices and using candles can reduce house fires.

“We spoke about the issue of the charging of electrical devices, whether it’s your tablet, your phone, or your headset, or has been plugging in these things to charge and leave the house for hours, open hours. Your headset, whatever it is that you are charging, special attention should be paid to these things while they are being charged. Never charge them and leave them unattended.

“We do know that persons have been plugging in these things to charge and leave the house for hours, open hours. Once these things are fully charged, they are to be removed from the electrical circuit because if they continue to be plugged in, they will run the risk of overheating,” Beckford explained.

While cautioning against charging phones overnight, he said if persons must charge devices overnight, they must do so on a hard concrete surface to reduce the likelihood of a fire spreading.

“Secondly, we encourage people to install smoke detectors in their houses. These are not necessarily expensive. And I think we know that they save lives. The data has proven that. So we want to encourage people to install these smoke detectors in their houses so in the case of a fire, that detector will pick up the smoke and will give an audible warning; even if you are in the deepest sleep, it will wake you and alert you to the fact that something is happening so you can leave that house,” Beckford said.

Homeowners are also being encouraged to invest in fire extinguishers
– Vanassa Mckenzie