McKenzie expresses sadness at deaths of three siblings in St Ann house fire

Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Desmond McKenzie, has expressed profound grief at the tragic deaths of three children in a house fire in Walkerswood, St Ann early this morning.

Killed were siblings two-year-old Tavaughno Mattis, three-year-old Tashanie Mattis, and seven-year-old Tashana Mattis.

“This is another painful moment that draws sharp attention to the critical importance of fire prevention and fire safety. My heart goes out to the remaining family and friends, and I am especially thinking about the children’s grandmother and the lone grandchild, just five years old, who survived the fire," said McKenzie in a statement today.

“We have now lost four children to house fires in these first 12 days of 2025. That is the same number of children who died due to fires over the entire year of 2024. The Jamaica Fire Brigade is ramping up its public education activities through the Fire and Life Safety Programme. I must, however, make a national call for us to take far greater care of ourselves and each other. Most fires are preventable, and we have the power, through the actions we take every single day, to ensure that we prevent further loss of lives and property through fires,” added McKenzie.

The local government minister noted that last year, 27 people died, 79 people were injured and 1,600 people lost their homes because of fires.

“I am urging every Jamaican to use today’s terrible tragedy to decide, once and for all that together, we will prevent incidents like these from happening again.”

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