85-year-old woman dies in Vusuya house fire after being trapped inside

An 85-year-old woman has tragically passed away in a fire at her home in Vusuya, Nausori after she was trapped inside.

The incident occurred early Sunday morning.

The National Fire Authority says that with a floor space of 3,014 square metres, the house sustained 80 percent structural damage with the cost of damage estimated at $200,000.

NFA is calling on members of the public to ensure the care of their elderly and infirm relatives in case of a fire or rescue emergency and CEO Puamau Sowane has expressed his concern regarding the fire incident.

He says this is a very sad and tragic situation, for someone elderly trapped inside this burning home and trying to escape from the heat and flames.

Sowane says this is the 5th fatality so far this year, an elderly woman, and out of these three were handicapped and were not able to escape.

He says since 2021, they have been averaging six deaths a year from fire, except for last year when there were 3 deaths recorded from fires.

The CEO says they need public support to reduce these types of fire tragedy and they have been conducting awareness via communities, house to house and school visits and from 2012 to July this year and have reached out to almost 62 percent of Fiji’s population (under the 2017 National Census).

Sowane says by now more than half of Fiji’s population must know NFA’s emergency number 910 by heart, so people must call them as soon as possible to allow firefighters to respond quickly.

He is urging homeowners to observe basic fire prevention strategies which involves proper use of matches, mosquito coils, smoking cigarettes inside homes must stop and storing flammable items in a safe place and being vigilant inside and outside their homes to prevent the possible outbreak of fire.