GRIM is how a social worker describes the welfare case of Odessa Thomas whose two children were burnt to death when a fire gutted their home at Pollydore Drive, Georgetown, early last Sunday morning. The welfare officer involved in this matter has asked for the case file to be reviewed.

The children’s mother and their thirteen-year-old brother suffered burns to their hands in the fire and had to be treated at the Georgetown Public Hospital.
Earlier reports had stated that the two children who died in the fire, Adam Marshall, 11, and Shania Marshall, 8, were apparently left in the care of their teenage brother at the time but Head of the Child Care and Protection Agency (CC&PA), Ann Greene has told the Guyana Chronicle that she was informed by the 13-year-old boy who escaped the fire that his mother Odessa Thomas was in the house with him and his other siblings at the time of the disaster.
The Head of the CC&PA indicated that the same teen may have run way from their custody, and the mother’s case was in a perilous state as the children had been found to be victims of neglect.
She said further that the social worker who was assigned to the case had deemed the mother’s response to parenting counseling “poor and impassive.” Greene added that alternative care would be provided for the children once the review confirmed that this is necessary.
Although the teen had confirmed his mother’s presence in the home at the time of the fire disaster, the CC&PA head said that the agency will continue its search for substantial evidence, and if the mother is found to have left the children unsupervised then she would be charged.
“The investigations will continue. It’s a tragic thing that this happened however, it is a chance for parents to learn.” Greene added that given the substance of the ongoing investigation the teen would be removed from the care of his mother and placed in a safe home.
“This is usually the next of kin,” she related, adding that the child could be placed in the care of his grandmother.
“When a child is taken to a better place the ultimate goal is for the child to return to their home,” she pointed out, stating that it is sometimes distressing that some children never make it back home. This occurs only if the child would be in a vulnerable state by returning home.
The remains of the two children who died in the fire were found by the door of the heavily grilled bottom flat of the old two-storey house after firefighters forced their way in by kicking down the door.
Meanwhile, many of Thomas’ neighbours had complained that she was out partying the night before and had just stepped out of a car in time to see her house in flames. The mother, however, maintained that she was in the house at the time. The landlord, who resided in the upper flat, had jumped to safety through a window.
When this newspaper spoke to Fire Chief, Marlon Gentle, he said that the fire service was yet to determine the cause of the early morning fire. However, a preliminary inquiry suggested that a candle could have been the cause of the blaze, which took the children’s life.
The early morning fire had engulfed the two-storey home within minutes around 4:15 am last Sunday. Neighbours recalled hearing the mother screaming for compensation for her belongings that were lost in the fire. There was speculation that one of the young boys were forced to beg for food and money at a local corner shop. Many residents along Pollydore Street accused the mother of leaving her children to go partying every weekend and noted also that the children were seen purchasing candles every day.
In the meantime, a source has disclosed that the post-mortems will be carried out today on the bodies of the two siblings who perished in the fire.