Five corrugated iron houses and Christian Life church were burned down last night at Komave Street, Nabua. The fire occurred around 8:45pm.

A neighbour has blamed a lack of parental supervision as the cause of the blaze.

A shocked Roshni Roy couldn’t hold back her tears, when she told Fiji Sun she had lost 10 years worth of earnings in a only a few minutes.

“I was waiting for the power to come back on, so I could cut my son’s birthday cake. It’s his 11th birthday today.

“The family living next door left their kids at home and were always out at night as they sell juice at the market.

“When the power went off, the kids lit a candle. When they came outside, the door was jammed behind them and they were looking through the window watching the fire and didn’t tell me until they started to scream for water,” Ms Roy said.

The flames engulfed and reached the neighbouring houses close by. Families were able to get of their houses in time.

Mr and Mrs Roy said they lost more than $25,000 worth of belongings in the blaze.

Neighbours Foziya Krishna, her husband and eight-year-old son Aeush Krishna were terrified when they saw their kitchen on fire.

“The fire started from the kitchen and we had two gas tanks filled.

“So I told my husband and child to run out before it blows up. We could not save anything apart from the clothes we are wearing,” Mrs Krishna said.

Edited by Jonathan Bryce

Feedback: jessica.gounder@fijisun.com.fj