Durrant Pate/Contributor

Governor-General Sir Patrick Allen will be petitioned to officially designate May 20 each year as Eventide Home Memorial Day.

This is in recognition of the tragic point in Jamaica’s history when, 45 years on May 20, 1980, over 145 wards of the State died in what is known as the Eventide inferno. The origins of the controversial fire have not been officially determined to this day.

Though a National Day of Mourning was declared shortly after the incident, and the remains of the victims were interred in a single grave at National Heroes’ Park, there has never been an official day to mark this incident in Jamaica’s modern history. 

Petition to the governor-general 

As part of his contribution to the 2025-26 Sectoral Debate, Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie advised that the governor-general will be petitioned to officially designate May 20 as Eventide Home Memorial Day.

He advised Parliament on Wednesday (May 28) that the Andrew Holness administration, “wants to use this occasion to look back at a tragic point in our country’s history, and to commemorate it not only as a mark of public atonement, but also as a reminder that we must always as a society, strive to prevent our vulnerable citizens from suffering indignity or untimely death.”

The fire broke out at about 1:00 am at the Eventide Home for the Aged in Kingston, which was a three-building facility operated by the Jamaican government caring for old, disabled and indigent.  The Myers Ward, which was overcrowded well beyond the legal 180 capacity and had 204 occupants, all old women, was quickly burned to the ground. 

Michael Manley cried foul play

The building was two stories tall and made of wood. There were accusations that arson had been involved, but nothing has been proven. 

The then-fire chief of Kingston initially theorised that an electrical short could have started the fire and stated that there was no proof of arson. However, then-Prime Minister Michael Manley publicly stated shortly after the fire that there was a possibility the fire was started by arsonists—telephone lines going to the building were discovered to have been cut before the fire.

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. 

Several remembrances of the fire have taken place in the years since.