Call for vigilance
THE National Fire Authority (NFA) recorded four residential fires and a road accident rescue response in the past 72 hours in the Central, Eastern and Western divisions.
NFA chief executive officer Puamau Sowane said the fires caused an estimated $480,000 worth of damage and, to date, left 24 people homeless.
These incidents occurred at Yalalevu in Ba and Sabeto in Nadi on Tuesday while a house at Wainiveidio Settlement in Navua was completely destroyed, causing $70,000 worth of damage — leaving a family of seven homeless.
Mr Sowane renewed a call for vigilance and fire safety awareness by members of the public.
“Eighteen days into 2024, we’ve had eight residential fires where homes have been completely destroyed with damage estimated in the hundreds of thousands of dollars,” he said.
Meanwhile last Sunday, Ba Fire Station responded to a call of a single duplex house at Sarava that was fully engulfed in flames.
The flat owner’s son and son-in-law, who was visiting from overseas, suffered minor injuries while trying to remove important items from the house. They were taken to the hospital in a police vehicle.
Investigations have started to find out the probable cause of fire.
In another incident, the crew at Nakasi Fire Station responded to a running call at 8.54pm at Davuilevu Housing on Monday in response to a road accident rescue call.
The ambulance arrived at 8.57pm after a motorcycle veered off the road leaving the motorcyclist unconscious by the side of it.
The motorcyclist regained consciousness and was transported to the CWM Hospital for further treatment.