The Editor, Sir:

After several days of questioning to determine the cause of the fire at the Armadale Juvenile Correctional Centre, someone described as an expert has declared that "... the fire which damaged the room at Armadale, had been caused by the ignition of an accelerant at the seat of the fire. Someone started it at that point and gasolene would have been the likely accelerant".

Perhaps a layman could be allowed to consult some of the 'softer' sciences if he has difficulty with that analysis. He would no doubt wonder how it is that our sisters - for they are our sisters - who were, for all purposes, imprisoned in this room and considered so dangerous that they could not be allowed even a spoon to eat their food, could find the funding and the freedom to acquire igniters and accelerants. Then, having acquired them and transported them to this cell, the 23 of them had a sudden attack of collective masochistic madness, which caused them to chose this excrutiating method of suicide - a method untipical of women.

Unreliable evidence

To me - a layman - the reasons advanced for arriving at certain conclusions does not reveal a basic grounding in the chemistry of explosives. For decades, myths, untested theories and duppy stories have plagued fire investigations, leading to wrongful arrests and convictions. For example, marks on floors described as 'pour patterns' were routinely interpreted as points of origin and cited as evidence of an arsonist pouring liquid accelerants like gasolene. In recent times, science has rendered such 'arson indicators' obsolete and convictions based on them have been questioned.

A long way to go

Perhaps the case that embodies the most disastrous consequences of the obsolete beliefs about fires is that of Cameron Willingham - a Texan - who was convicted in 1991 of the arson murders of his three children. In 2004, a review was commissioned by Willingham's appellate lawyer. The investigator - a Gerald Hurst - produced a powerful report which debunked all of the 20 so-called arson indicators used to convict Willingham. He was still executed. Gerald Hurst, who gained a PhD in chemistry from Cambridge University was, later that year, successful in getting another Texan - who was sentenced to death for arson during which people died - to be freed from death row. He has had several similar successes since.

In Jamaica, we seem to have an unusually large number of fires. Sometimes, the reports coming from the media on the cause of the fire would be humorous if the circumstances were not so disastrous. My reservations are not limited to local investigators. Fire investigation - universally - still has a long way to go before its application is as dependable as other forensic sciences.

I am, etc.,

GLENN TUCKER

glenntucker8@hotmail.com

Stony Hill