Jamaicans have been comforted by news that murders and violent crime are on the decline nationally.

Yet tragedy and grief are ever-present.

On Sunday came devastating word of the death of three children, siblings — ages seven, three, and two — in a house fire in Walkerswood, St Ann.

Inevitably, it seems, there was also death on our roads. Two motorcyclists died in Manchester — a report suggesting they somehow crashed head-on while travelling in opposite directions.

On the crime front, a 59-year-old teacher was found dead, her throat slashed, at her home in St Mary, north-eastern Jamaica.

As always, the death of children leaves us all with a sense of great loss. Last week another child, five years old, succumbed in yet another house fire on Whitehall Avenue in St Andrew.

According to Local Government Minister Mr Desmond McKenzie, the four child deaths because of fire, with just 12 days gone in 2025, equals the number in all of 2024.

All told, the minister says 27 people lost their lives to fire in Jamaica last year, 79 were injured, and 1,600 lost their homes. All of which means that, apart from grief, there is enormous cost in health care, property damage, and restoration, as well as dislocation.

Many such tragedies are preventable.

Hence, the minister, chief executive officer of the Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA) Ms Laurette Adams-Thomas, firefighters, and others are urging Jamaicans to exercise greater care.

Ms Adams-Thomas’s advice to parents and guardians is worth repeating: “We implore you to be extra vigilant in the care of your children. Never leave them unsupervised or in situations where their safety may be at risk…”

And further that, “It is crucial that parents create and implement a home fire safety plan and then rehearse it with their children… By preparing ahead we can help reduce the likelihood of these devastating events…”

In response to the five-year-old’s death last week, commissioner of the Jamaica Fire Brigade (JFB) Mr Stewart Beckford is cautioning homeowners to avoid charging electrical devices for prolonged periods, such as overnight, as this could lead to overheating and electrical fires.

He also wants installation of smoke detectors in homes.

The local government minister says the fire brigade is “ramping” up its public education efforts through its Fire and Life Safety programme. That’s good.

We believe, though, that even more could be achieved with an intense education programme in schools and community gathering places. The Social Development Commission could be a big help in such a drive, in our view.

Also, the harsh reality is that poverty is a major source of house fires in this country. In 2025, far too many Jamaicans still depend on open flame for lighting via the use of kerosene lamps and candles. That’s usually because they cannot afford electricity.

That largely explains the very high level of electricity theft in our poorest neighbourhoods — urban and rural.

Like much else in Jamaica, land we love, tragedies such as house fires underline the need to lift our people out of abject poverty as a matter of the greatest urgency.