SISTERS KILLED IN HOUSE FIRE WERE BURIED TODAY

The three sisters who died as a result of a fire in their E. 8th Street home were waked yesterday and buried today.

Sixteen-year-old Jasmine Michelle Guillaume died in the hospital on December 20th, the day of the fire. Two older sisters, Jaima Alexandra Jumelle and Kareen Anthonine Jumelle, ages 24 and 27, survived just a bit longer.

The fire started at 5:30 a.m. on the second floor of the house and spread to the third floor. The sisters sought refuge from the fire behind the closed door of their third-floor bathroom. When firefighters found them, they were unconscious but alive.

Barely able to see through the smoke, firefighters carried the sisters down flights of stairs to the outdoors. They were then transported to hospitals,  in critical condition, one to Maimonides Medical Center, one to the burn unit at Weill-Cornell Medical Center on Manhattan's Upper East Side, and the other to Kings County Hospital.

Their mother, Evena Guillaume, and her sister escaped from the house and were hospitalized in Kings County Hospital with minor injuries and suffering from smoke inhalation.

A firefighter pointed out that the house at 293 E. 8th Street, between Beverley Road and Avenue C, had no working smoke detectors. He believes that smoke detectors could have warned the family of the approaching danger early enough for them to get out of the house unharmed.

Yesterday's wake and memorial service were held at the Christian Cultural Center on Flatlands Avenue. The Funeral Mass was held today at the Church of the Holy Innocents on E. 17th Street. Interment was in Cypress  Hills Cemetery.

St. Saviour High School, where Jasmine was a junior, is accepting monetary donations to give to the devastated surviving family members via https://www.stsaviour.org/alumnae/donate. In addition to the horrific loss of three lives, their house is uninhabitable.

The sisters are survived by their fathers, Guy Jumelle and Jean-Mary Joseph; their brothers, Sony Datus Murat, Harshley, and Chris Jumelle; their sister, Guyinna Jumelle; and their grandfather, Louis Vilbrun Guillaume.

https://www.facebook.com/MovementforJasmine