Sabbath has turned tragic for a family of four this afternoon after their corrugated iron and timber home in Cunningham Stage 1 was completely destroyed in a fire.
A neighbour says the house belonged to an elderly woman in her 60s who lived with her son, grandson and a church pastor.
While speaking to fijivillage News, Dhan Laxmi says the elderly lady was resting in her room after returning from church.
She says the grandson told her that there was a loud explosion from his late grandfather's room and the fire quickly spread from there.
Laxmi says the fire started somewhere between 1 and 2pm.
She says they quickly got out of the house with nothing but the clothes on their back.
The neighbour says she took the elderly lady into her home and consoled her before her oldest son took them home with them.
Firefighters were able to prevent the fire from spreading to other homes metres away.
National Fire Authority CEO Puamau Sowane says firefighters received the information at 1.31pm and were at the scene at 1.41pm.
He says the house was not insured and the estimated cost of damage is between $30,000 and $35,000.
Sowane says the recent home fires around the country are alarmingly high and raise a lot of questions for homeowners.
He says the responsibility of keeping our homes fire safe, falls squarely on our shoulders.
The CEO says mosquito coils must be placed safely on recommended stands and far away from windows curtains and bedding and extra care must be given when children are around the house, and matches must not be allowed for them to play with.
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