Fire leaves 6 homeless

A FAMILY of six from Vuniyalayala Farm, Labasa in Vanua Levu were distraught after their house was destroyed in a fire on Christmas Eve.

Easi Qalo said his family was in Savusavu when they received the news that their house was on fire.

“We were going to Savusavu for Christmas,” said the 22-year-old.

“My family and I left home at 5am. Upon reaching Savusavu, we received a call from our neighbour around 1.30pm and they told us our house was on fire,” Mr Qalo said.

He said before leaving the house his family ensured that everything was in perfect condition.

“We didn’t make any fire, nothing at all that morning before we left.

“When we received the call, we immediately returned home only to see that everything was destroyed.”

He said they were thankful the house was empty when the incident happened.

“The house belongs to my (paternal) grandmother so it was like our family home but we are thankful to our relatives we are now living with.”

Mr Qalo said they planned to rebuild their house in the coming months.

In a statement issued by the National Fire Authority (NFA), the call was received by the NFA Command Centre at 2.14pm that a residence was on fire at Qoibau, Labasa.

The NFA Labasa team responded immediately to the incident and upon arrival at 2.33pm, the fire crew found that the house was already fully destroyed by the fire.

The property was a two-bedrooom leanto house and was occupied by four adults and two children.

The house was also vacant at the time of the fire as the family was away in Savusavu.