The Eventide Home for the Aged was a three building facility operated by the Jamaican government caring for old, disabled, or indigent people.
[3][1][2] Kingston's fire chief Allen Ridgeway criticized the building, describing it as a "tinder box.
Though the fire chief continued to argue against such suggestions, police later noted reports of four men fleeing the building.
Manley also proclaimed the following Monday a day of national mourning while money and goods were raised for the victims.
[2] On May 27, The Gleaner reported that 145 of those who died had their remains "buried in 26 wooden coffins in a single grave at National Heroes Park" in a funeral that was attended by thousands of people.
[5] In 1993 Lee Davis, writing for Facts On File, stated that the fire had been sparked by an electrical short, noting that an ensuing investigation reached that conclusion.