The National Fire Authority is calling on business owners, especially eatery proprietors, to ensure that flammable items likely to cause a fire are stored properly in a safe space following a fire at Aosen Food Takeaways at Fletcher Road, Nabua, on Sunday.
NFA Chief Executive Officer Puamau Sowane says the NFA Command Centre was contacted by a member of the public via the 910 emergency toll-free line at 1.57pm, reporting a structural fire at the eatery, and the crew at Suva Fire Station responded with 2 trucks and 8 officers.
He says they arrived at the scene at 2.04pm to find a well-involved fire at the site and managed to extinguish it.
Sowane says the concrete structure sustained 80 percent damage, with the cost of damage estimated at $100,000, and initial investigations point to the cooking area at the rear of the eatery as the likely starting point of the fire.
He says fire investigators will begin work soon to determine the probable cause of fire.
The CEO is emphasising the need for fire safety training for people employed in the eatery business.
He says high-risk businesses such as restaurants, require staff to be prepared to handle fire emergencies, and their training ensures that staff know what to do in the event of a fire, potentially preventing further damage and ensuring safety.
He also highlighted a few fire incidents involving eateries which caused massive damage, such as a fire that started in an eatery at the Jaduram Building in Labasa in August last year, which caused damage worth $7 million.
He says these cases clearly demonstrate the dangers posed by such fires and the extent and cost of damage they can cause, and he is urging eatery owners to exercise caution and implement fire safety measures to ensure the sustainability of their businesses.
