Fifteen staff have lost their jobs after a fire at Yados Furniture Joinery and Upholstery Pte Limited at Vadravadra, Ba.

The Ba Fire Station was alerted of the fire at 12.05 pm and the fire team responded immediately. Upon arrival at the scene, the fire team found a semi concrete and corrugated iron and timber building well engulfed in flames. The team quickly used two deliveries of water from the fire truck to extinguish the fire and were successful in controlling the fire and stopping its spread to other buildings meters away from the burning building.

Due to heavy fire loading with flammable contents such as timber, saw dust, and thinner prevalent at the site, the fire had escalated quickly and engulfed the building.

The NFA Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Puamau Sowane said that fire safety is crucial for all businesses and property owners and it is everyone’s responsibility to ensure that their properties are fire compliant. 

“Business owners should take stock of their fire safety capability and take advantage of fire safety awareness programs that NFA can offer to either eliminate or enable the early mitigation of fire damage to their property, “he said.

“Business owners are encouraged to engage their staff in firefighting practices and ensure that their staff know what to do in the event of a fire emergency.  This will go a long way in preventing unnecessary occurrence of fires damaging properties,” he said.

NFA CEO also emphasizes to building owners and business operators to ensure full compliance to the fire safety aspects outlined in the Fiji Building Code, as well as take heed of the fire safety precautions and messages by the National Fire Authority which will assist greatly in early fire mitigation or prevention of unnecessary damages due to fire. 

“NFA provides fire training in a number of areas for businesses and private industries. There are a range of fire safety skills that can be gained through this formal training including emergency warden training and the proper and effective use of fire equipment,” he added.

Mr. Sowane urges the public and business communities to start reviewing their fire safety strategies to prevent the unnecessary occurrence of fires in their property and to work with NFA to take advantage of the fire safety and fire prevention services offered.  

“As some COVId-19 restrictions has been uplifted, now our Fire Safety and Compliance Department will be able to enforce inspections to ensure that buildings are fire- compliance in order to operate,” he added.

The National Fire Authority urges all Fijians to be alert with their surroundings and immediately call the toll-free fire emergency number 910 if they see any suspicious smoke or fire before attempting to put it out, so that firefighters can respond in the quickest time possible.

The NFA will be carrying out its investigations into the fire incident to ascertain the cause.

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