Four home fires and road accident rescue in the last 72 hours

Four home fire incidents in the last 72 hours have left 24 people homeless.

The National Fire Authority says these incidents have sparked a renewed warning for the members of the public to practice fire safety after the fire caused an estimated $480,000 worth of damage.

They say at 7.05am last Tuesday the Ba Fire Station received a call reporting a residential fire at Yalalevu, Ba, within the fire boundary.

NFA says the on-duty crew immediately responded with one truck, seven on-duty officers and one off-duty officer and on arrival at the scene two minutes later found a single flat house fully engulfed in flames.

The brigade immediately established a delivery of two lengths from the tank supply to stop the fire from spreading towards adjacent houses just metres away and managed to extinguish the fire.

The estimated cost of damage to the concrete, timber and corrugated iron property was estimated at $100,000 and three people were left homeless.

They further say at 1.49pm last Tuesday as well, the Nadi Fire Station also received a call from the Police Command Centre reporting a residential fire at Sabeto, Nadi.

The on-duty crew immediately responded with two trucks, seven on-duty officers and two off-duty officers and on arrival at the scene eight minutes later noticed a corrugated iron and wooden vacant house well engulfed in flames.

The crew immediately established one delivery from the tank supply and managed to extinguish the fire using one tank supply of water.

They add the third incident was in Wainiveidio Settlement in Navua where the NFA Command Centre received a call at 11.36am on Monday.

On Sunday, the Ba Fire Station received a running call at 8.05am about a residential fire at Sarava. The station crew responded immediately with one truck, six on-duty and six off-duty officers. On arrival seven minutes later, the crew noticed a single duplex house fully engulfed in flames.

NFA says one of the duplex flats had six bedrooms and the second flat had four bedrooms.

They say information gathered at the scene revealed that the owner of one of the two flats was attending to his cattle when he noticed smoke coming out from the house and his wife, who was inside the house, quickly alerted the family members and escaped without any injuries.

They say, flat owner’s son-in-law, who was visiting from overseas, and son sustained minor injuries while trying to remove important items from the house.

They were transported to hospital in a police vehicle.

Two vehicles were also destroyed in the fire, which completely destroyed both concrete and timber flats and caused damage estimated at $300,000. Investigations have started to find out the probable cause of the fires.

They add in another development, the on-duty 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 response call.

The ambulance arrived at 8.57pm to find a motorcycle had veered off the road and the motorcyclist was unconscious by the side of the road. The motorcyclist regained consciousness and was transported to the CWM Hospital for further treatment. NFA Chief Executive Officer, Puamau Sowane is again calling for vigilance and fire safety awareness by members of the public. The NFA is urging the public to call the 910 toll-free line in the first instance to give firefighters a better chance to save properties and valuables.