Neighbours haunted by minister, children’s screams

Senior Reporter

kay-marie.fletcher@guardian.co.tt

Screams from Lisa Morris-Julian and her two children continue to haunt neighbours on Farfan Street in Arima.

This was the revelation from neighbours yesterday, as they recalled the chilling moments the three died in a fire that engulfed their home.

Neighbours also again expressed the view that the three would still be alive had the T&T Fire Service (TTFS) arrived sooner.

Speaking to Guardian Media at the scene yesterday, one neighbour recalled hearing Lisa’s daughter Xianne cry out for help from inside the burning house.

“She was screaming and bawling ‘Daddy! Daddy! I can’t see anything, daddy!”

Guardian Media obtained exclusive CCTV footage which captured the scene of the fire. Despite the fire service claiming it took 11 minutes to arrive at the scene, CCTV footage showed otherwise. According to eyewitnesses, the fire started shortly after 5.30 am and began spreading very quickly.

Another neighbour, Selena Madoo, called the fire service, immediately. Showing her call log as proof, Madoo said a call was made to the fire service’s hotline, 990, at 5.38 am but there was no answer.

By 5.44 am, there was a loud explosion as the front portion of the house was engulfed in flames. Moments later, a second explosion was heard as the rest of the house went up in flames.

Taxi drivers were the first on the scene, followed by other neighbours, but there was little they could do as the fire raged. Several men who jumped the wall and ran into the yard also received minor injuries.

At 5.45 am, Madoo called the Arima Fire Service.

She said she told an officer that Lisa and her relatives were trapped inside. One minute later (5.46 am) she called T&TEC.

Frantic neighbours said they ran to the fire station on Green Street, which is walking distance from Morris-Julian’s home, for help after no one responded to the call.

Another neighbour, a former fire officer, said he believed even if officers responded on foot they would have been able to help save them.

He said, “I went to the station. There were three officers I observed at the fire station at the time. Well, three officers awake at the time. I gave them the information, telling them that the minister and her children were trapped inside. There was no urgency involved. They just took the information and the female officer, she said, ‘We informed Tunapuna, Tunapuna responding’. But in my opinion, based on my years of experience, it’s ridiculous… Why the fire service responders didn’t return to the scene where lives were involved? The first priority of the Fire Service is to save lives.”

While the Fire Service and Public Utilities Minister argued over whether there was a water problem yesterday, neighbours said there was water in the area.

Arima borough workers cleaning the streets at the time noticed the fire and also called in the borough’s water truck to render assistance. The borough’s truck arrived before the fire service, they said. Workers made several trips from O’Meara Road transporting water.

By 5.50 am, CCTV footage captured Lisa’s husband Daniel, sister Tracy, eldest son Ixiah, daughter Anya and her boyfriend Edward escaping from the house.

Witnesses said they were all covered in ashes and in total shock.

One witness said Daniel kept saying, “They dead, they dead.”

Another eyewitness said if it were not for Edward’s effort to save the relatives, Lisa’s other children would not have survived. She said he was the true hero.

The Fire Service, T&TEC and the TTPS were yet to arrive at the scene then.

Lisa and the two other children never made it out.

Neighbours claim fire officers accompanied by the ambulance arrived about an hour after.

Daniel, Ixiah and Anya were taken to the hospital.

Ixiah and Anya were released from hospital yesterday.

On Monday, autopsies were done on Morris-Julian and the children.

While the house was nothing but a burnt-out structure, barely standing yesterday, Guardian Media observed an aquarium with a goldfish inside, still alive.

Neighbours said the family’s dogs also survived.

Funeral arrangements are yet to be finalised for the trio.

Lisa: A mother to all

As neighbours continued to grapple with the final tragic moments for Morris-Julian and her children yesterday, others close to her were trying to hold on to their best memories of her.

Her neighbours, friends and constituents all said she was extremely humble, helpful and a beautiful human being. When Guardian Media visited her D’Abadie/O’Meara constituency office on Tumpuna Road, office manager Michael Simpson and her personal assistant Terisa Lewis-Coutou only had positive things to say about their deceased boss.

Describing her as a mother figure in her life, Lewis-Coutou said Morris-Julian was always there to support her both in and outside of work, especially after she lost her own mother a few years ago.

Simpson, who had worked closely with Morris-Julian for over a decade, said she was preparing for the constituency’s Christmas party.

Calvary councillor Jeniece Scott, who shared a mother-daughter relationship with Morris-Julian, said she was her mentor for several years. She last saw Morris-Julian at the Prime Minister’s Christmas cocktail on Saturday.

An emotional Scott said, “When I just started off in politics, I was 23 and I was absolutely scared. I was excited but scared going into politics and she sat me down and said ‘Jeniece you can do it. I will be here with you every step of the way. I will never let you fall.’ She really never did. She made sure and supported me and gave me guidance that I will hold for the rest of my life. She made sure that she supported young women, make sure and give them a good footing. She was there all the time. When they say we lost a gem, we really lost a gem.”

Councillor for Malabar South Joycelyn Worrell said Morris-Julian was a one-of-a-kind woman.

Worrell said, “MP took me under her wings. She is my mentor. She took her time to train me and walk me through the job. She was a role model. She was passionate about youths. She was a blessing. Without her, I don’t know what would happen. … That was her calling and I loved her tremendously. I feel like this has really, really shattered me to the core.”

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