Janaina Pio Ferreira, a 30-year-old resident of North Charleston, South Carolina, faces eight counts of unlawful conduct toward a child after allegedly operating an illegal daycare and leaving eight juveniles unsupervised in her apartment during a fire on March 12. The fire at Arbor Square Apartments was extinguished by the building's suppression system before firefighters arrived, with no injuries reported. Ferreira returned to the scene with additional children shortly after emergency responders arrived.
On Thursday, March 12, at 2:30 p.m., officers and firefighters responded to a structure fire at the Arbor Square Apartments in the 2600 block of Otranto Road North, North Charleston. Upon arrival, they found eight juveniles inside the apartment without adult supervision, according to a North Charleston Police Department news release. The fire suppression system had already extinguished the blaze, and no injuries occurred among the children or others at the scene. Shortly thereafter, Janaina Pio Ferreira, the apartment resident, returned home with several more children. Authorities determined she had been running an illegal daycare from the unit and was responsible for the children left inside during the incident. She was taken into custody at the scene after parents were notified and booked at the Al Cannon Detention Center. The North Charleston Fire Department investigation identified the fire's cause as a faulty aftermarket knob on the stove. A local ABC affiliate, WCIV, reported that investigators believe one child placed a backpack on the stove, which ignited. NCFD Chief Deputy Christian Rainey commented to WCIV, 'Kids, sometimes play with fire, sometimes they play with stoves, sometimes they turn on stoves. We could have been having a totally different talk today — a totally different story.' Tiffani Lockwood, owner of a nearby licensed childcare center, expressed concern, stating, 'You're really playing Russian roulette with your kids.' Ferreira is held on a $200,000 bond, at $25,000 per charge, with a first court appearance scheduled for May 1. The NCPD and NCFD continue a joint investigation.
