A woman who tried desperately to save her mother-in-law from her burning home said she too could have died if she went in.

“I saw the smoke was heavy and I wanted to go inside the house, but it was so fast that it was impossible to enter and grab hold of her. I could have lost my life if I went inside,” said daughter-in-law, Anjila Wati.

The fire is believed to have started at around 8am yesterday. The victim, Ram Pati, in her 70s, has been living in the house for the past 60 years.

She is the second person to have died in a fire this year, the National Fire Authority (NFA) said. The first, also a woman, was in Lautoka.

Ms Wati, 50, who lives next door, has been taking care of her sickly mother-in-law since her marriage.

She said she was doing the laundry at the back of her house at the time of the incident.

“I called for help but it was too late to save anything from that house. We will miss her since she was part of our lives. My children used to sit and yarn with her,” she said.

“I had prepared her meal and my husband gave her the food. I have been looking after her since I got married.”

NFA has recorded 19 structural fires from January to February this year.

They are investigating.

Edited by Naisa Koroi

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