Stationery, uniforms burnt in Lautoka home fire
At least five children of Matawalu Village outside Lautoka will not return to school anytime soon. This is after their school uniforms and stationery were destroyed in a fire at their family home on Saturday morning.
The fire, which occurred around 9.30am, is believed to have started from inside the twobedroom home.
Cameri Maria, who lives in the home with nine other family members, said she was at work at the time of the fire.
“I got the call from my boss around 10am that my home had been burnt down,” said Ms Maria.
“My mum built this home for us siblings and our children; she passed away last year.”
Two families have been occupying the home for the past two years. In the home, two of the five children are secondary school students while three attend primary school.
“I heard that everyone was at home when the fire started; they were sitting on the verandah when they saw smoke coming out from the house,” she said.
“They couldn’t save anything from the fire. We did our shopping ready for the children and now it has all been gone.
“Our family from Gau was also at home and was expected to return today (yesterday), but now they will have to wait here for a while.”
Ms Maria added her family would be staying with relatives until there was an alternative.
“At the moment, we are looking out for each other and helping each other with food and shelter,” she added.
The National Fire Authority stated that investigations into this were continuing.