Man, mum and tenants homeless after fire

Fifteen years of memories went up in flames as man and his widowed mother watched their three bedroom home burn down on Sunday. Their corrugated iron and timber structured building also had three flats. This has also forced four tenants to become homeless in Olosara, Sigatoka. Mohammed Saddiq and his mum Nasiran were having an evening conversation when they noticed that fire started from one of the flats at around 8.30pm. He said: “We moved to his house in 2001 when my father bought it and I remembered my dad well by this home of ours. Since then we extended the house to flats. We did not expect this to be so painful to swallow.” Mr Saddiq, who earns a living by landscaping a neighbour’s compound, said they only managed to save the clothes they were wearing. “The fire was too fast and the first thing we took notice of was our lives and we watched the flame taking shape.”

He said the total losses was esti- mated to be over $80,000. Police and the National Fire Authority (NFA), had assessed the damage, but the cause of the fire has not been determined yet. The investigation is still ongoing.

Chief Fire officer Qionilau Moceitai said NFA Sigatoka received the emergency call at 8.30pm and immediately responded. “The fire team saw the house engulfed in flames and extinguished the fire and stopped it from spreading to the nearby houses,” he said. Mr Moceitai is reminding home owners on the importance of fire safety at home. “It is very important for home owners to be mindful of fire safety since fire ignition sources are used at home,” he said.

“Fire ignition sources like candles, prayer diyas, mosquito coils, electrical appliances, etc can cause a fire easily and we can avoid such fires, if appropriate fire safety measures are taken at home.” Edited by Jonathan Bryce