A 17-year-old girl who was detained for a fire at a Tacarigua children’s home has been charged with the offence.
The girl is believed to have deliberately set the fire in the office of one of the House Mothers at the Child Support Centre after threatening to kill a staff member during the early hours of June 9.
She is believed to have confessed to police of the arson before she was officially charged.
Eighteen children were rescued from what could have been a major disaster as a fire broke out around 1.30 am.
The fire gutted the top floor of the Children’s Authority of Trinidad and Tobago’s, Crown Street, Tacarigua facility but fortunately none of the 18 female residents was injured.
A security officer had initially reported that he noticed the teenage girl destroying items in the facility’s front office and had said the girl then pulled some exposed electrical wiring and its sparks started the fire.
That account was later discounted.
A neighbour told Guardian Media that by the time Fire Services arrived, the blaze was contained and the 18 girls were already in a bus waiting to leave the area. Police said the girls are now at the St Dominic’s Children’s Home.
