The final ward to testify at the commission of enquiry into the May 22 fire at the Armadale Juvenile Correctional Centre said, in a desperate attempt to extinguish the fire in her hair, she used urine on the floor.

The 16-year-old said she saw a police vehicle drive on to the property of the St Ann institution. She said later, she saw a policeman standing at the window with a "small, circular, dark-greenish thing" in his hand.

The ward escaped the fire, which started not long after, by pushing her head and hands between some girls to get through a window.

She related that Carlene Coleman, one of the security guards on the property, started to help but "my skin started to come off and she let me go and Ms (Caldeen) Shaw-Slack finish pull me out".

'Grossly inappropriate'

Neilson Anderson, acting property manager at the Department of Correctional Services, also testified yesterday at the Council of Voluntary Social Services in Kingston.

Anderson told the enquiry that Armadale was "grossly inappropriate" and overcrowded. "They were actually packed inside there," he said.

According to Anderson, Armadale had been in need of immediate attention since May 2007.

Asked about making reports to his superiors, Anderson said the problems were obvious and needed no discussion, especially in light of the fact that Commissioner of Corrections, June Spence-Jarrett, had visited the facility with him this year.

Eight extinguishers needed

Additionally, Anderson said he received a letter last December that about eight fire extinguishers were needed at Armadale, and four needed servicing. However, he said he did not do anything, as the institution should have furnished him with the type of extinguishers needed. On the four that needed servicing, he fumbled over his words, as he tried to explain why he had not dealt with them, eventually saying he had been dealing with other institutions.

When Anderson said he did not have documents to support his claim of his visits to Armadale, retired Justice Paul Harrison seemed frustrated. "This department does not seem to write at all, normally," he said. He said it was a "strange department", as they did not keep many written records.

Anderson is scheduled to resume his testimony today.

kimesha.walters@gleanerjm.com