NFA says Autoworld fire caused 85% damage and Caubati blaze likely caused by child playing with matches

The National Fiji Authority says Autoworld Trading in Vatuwaqa, which sustained 85 percent structural damage in a fire yesterday was insured with New India Insurance and the estimated cost of damage is still being worked out.

Business owner Ravindra Lal, who was at the scene, says he was still at home when one of his employees called him to inform him that the warehouse was on fire.

In another fire incident yesterday, the cost of damage for each of the three homes in Cakacaka Place in Caubati is set at $250,000.

The first house belonged to 75-year-old man, but further details could not be established.

The second house belonged to a soldier serving with the Republic of Fiji Military Forces and the third to a retired soldier.

NFA says investigations to find the probable causes of the fires started this morning.

NFA CEO Puamau Sowane says their initial investigation shows the cause of the fire may have been a child playing with matches.

He says children are naturally curious, so they are urging parents and grown-ups to be vigilant, so they can avoid and minimise property fires.

In light of these incidents, Sowane is urging home and business owners to use basic fire prevention strategies and be vigilant in and around their homes and businesses.

Sowane says despite the heightened awareness by NFA stations and awareness teams, the advice given to members of the public seemed to be falling on deaf ears.

He says they continuously ask members of the public to call 910, their toll-free emergency line, at the first sign of a fire but they still see people go live on social media before calling them.

Sowane says the fire at Autoworld was first sighted just after 6am, but their Command Centre received the first call at 6.38am.

He stresses that every minute a fire burns, it doubles in size, which is why he is pleading with people to call NFA first so they can respond in time, contain a fire and stop it from spreading.

The CEO says it is fortunate that all houses and buildings beside the warehouse were saved by the firefighters.

He says in the case of commercial fires such as this one, we are urging business owners to subscribe to our Alarm Signalling Equipment (ASE) units that can be installed on your fire alarm panel.

Sowane says it will ensure peace of mind because at the first sign of a fire, either smoke or flames, their Command Centre will be notified by the unit.

He says in the case of the Caubati fires, a rise in awareness campaigns was still not bearing fruit.

The CEO says they visit communities and conduct house-to-house and school awareness, firefighters continuously emphasise fire safety measures such as storage of matches and combustible materials in a safe space, placing of mosquito coils on non-combustible surfaces etc, but still these are not adhered to.