A four-bedroom corrugated iron and timber house was destroyed in a fire incident at Vunikavika Settlement in Sigatoka yesterday morning.

Three families who occupied the house lost all their belongings in the fire but managed to escape safely.

The National Fire Authority was alerted of the house fire by a 910 call at 7.50 am and the fire team from the Sigatoka Fire Station responded immediately. Upon arrival at the scene, the fire team found the house fully engulfed in flames.  The team quickly used one delivery of water from the fire truck to extinguish the fire.

The intensity of the fire and windy conditions at the time of the incident caused the fire to spread quickly. The firefighters fought hard against windy conditions to stop the fire from further spreading and managed to save two houses which were also a few meters away from the burning house.

In another fire incident, a family lost their two-bedroom house on Saturday 8^th May 2021 in Wainiveidoi Navua.

 At 9.47 am, the fire crew was alerted of the fire incident and the crew responded immediately. Upon arrival at the scene, the crew found a two-bedroom house fully engulfed in flames. The crew quickly established one delivery of water from the fire truck to extinguish the fire. The owner of the house was home with his wife when the fire started but managed to escape safely before the fire had spread.

In another fire incident, a family lost their five-bedroom house on Friday 7^th May 2021 at Ratu Kadavulevu Road in Visama Nausori.

The Nausori Fire Station was alerted of the fire incident at 3.49 pm and the fire crew responded immediately. Upon arrival at the fire scene, the crew found the partially timber and concrete house fully engulfed in flames. The team quickly established one delivery of water from the fire truck to extinguish the fire with the help of the Nakasi Fire Station crew. It is believed the house was vacant on the day of the fire incident.

NFA Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Puamau Sowane, says the fire incident this morning is the third residential fire within a span of only 4 days and this raises a lot of concerns.

“The increase in residential fire incidents indicates that people are not taking fire safety seriously around their homes and properties.”

“Fire safety is not only NFA’s responsibility but everyone’s responsibility. People should ensure that they observe fire safety precautions in their homes to prevent the unnecessary occurrence of fires.”

“We continue to remind members of the public about fire safety but we still see fire incidents nearly every week added Mr. Sowane.”

“During these difficult times, I urge everyone to start being vigilant and start taking fire safety seriously. “If you are home during this lockdown check your homes and ensure to practice good fire safety measures in your home with family,” he said.

Investigations are underway to determine the causes of the above fire incidents. NFA urges the public to first call on the toll-free fire emergency number 910 if they see any property on fire so that the firefighters can respond in the quickest time to save that property.

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