A WARD who was severely burnt in the May 22 fire at the Armadale Juvenile Correctional Centre said there were girls inside the dorm who smoked and staff was aware that they had matches at different times.

The ward also gave more details about the living conditions in the office dorm which was gutted by fire, leaving seven of her colleagues dead.

The witness said several wards slept on blankets on the floor of the St Ann institution from time to time.

Locked up and forgotten

A second ward said yesterday that when she arrived at Armadale on May 14, she was locked in a room with two other girls and the staff often forgot they were inside.

"Sometimes they don't remember that we are in there. We call them," said the witness.

She said on the day of the fire, she was moved from a room on the building that housed the office dorm, as Joseph Small, the acting overseer, was trying to put some beds inside the room but they could not fit.

Policeman pointed out again

They were subsequently placed in the cottage dorm.

The ward said during the uproar, while she was in the dorm, she heard the girls saying the policeman had something in his hand and she ran to the window to see what was happening.

"I was looking through the window and him throw something inside an den mi see white fog," she said.

The 16-year-old, who cried during her testimony, said her reaction was because she could have died if they had taken her to the office dorm rather than where she was eventually placed.

The enquiry resumes today.

kimesha.walters@gleanerjm.com