One can only imagine what the 20 year-old son of Stanley Jarman must be feeling right now.

For not only has his father been killed in a fire at their Old Harbour, St. Catherine, home as was reported in yesterday's STAR, but the younger Jarman was at a go-go club when his father was being burnt to death.

Stanley Jarman was blind.

Of course, no one is assigning blame to the son who, although the police have not yet determined a cause, has already concluded that it was arson. As he told The STAR, I don't know why someone would do this to us because I now lose my father and I have nowhere to live."

If it was arson, there is a good chance that the son would have suffered the same fate as the father if he had been at home. However, there is still a lesson in the tragedy, as many times we hear about children being alone at home when a fire starts, with devastating results. But there are adults, such as the physically impaired, who are just as vulnerable as children.

And no matter how comfortable these adults are in their familiar environment, when disaster strikes that element of familiarity goes very quickly and, with it, their ability to manoeuvre to ensure their safety.

So let those who live with adults who have disabilities, mental or physical, which could prevent them from saving themselves from harm be aware of what could happen and take the necessary precautions.