Another family in the Northern Division lost their house in a fire after Diwali celebrations this week. Rishi Deo, his wife and two sons were asleep when the incident happened at around 12.23am on Tuesday at Waitavala Farm Road on Taveuni Island.

His wife had alerted them all.

“We couldn’t save anything since the whole house was engulfed in flames,” said the 41-year-old truck driver.

He said his eldest son, who is the Taveuni Central Sanatan Primary School head boy, could not attend classes since all his stationeries, uniform, school bag and shoes were destroyed.

“Still in shock we don’t know where to start rebuilding our lives because we don’t have enough money,” said the father of two children.”

The Taveuni case is similar to the incident at Waiqele, Labasa after the house owners had joyfully completed Diwali celebration and settled for the night.

NFA response

National Fire Authority (NFA) chief executive officer Puamau Sowane said the Taveuni Fire Station received a running call from a police officer at 12.23am on November 14.

The fire crew was told that the house had already been razed to the ground and assistance was requested to put out hotspots.

NFA personnel responded and at 12.45am arrived close to the threebedroom corrugated iron house, but could not quite reach it on the fire truck due to the poor, wet and rough road conditions, so the fivemember crew carried their equipment (portable pumps and hoses) on foot.

They managed to douse hotspots and stopped the fire spreading to a nearby house.

“Investigations are underway, but the suspected cause of fire is a lit prayer diya,” Mr Sowane said.

Firefighters had to use a pump to gather water from a water tank to put out a fire.

“The estimated total cost of damage is around $50,000.

“The four residential fires that occurred during Diwali festivities across the country resulted in 15 people being left homeless.”

“This year alone, NFA analysis of statistics revealed that for the 10 months period from January to October 2023, a total of 145 structural fire incidents were recorded compared to 113 for the same period last year, a 28 per cent increase,” he said.

“Of the 145 fire incidents, 131 were residential fires, 11 were commercial fire incidents and three were industrial fires.”

These incidents resulted in an estimated total loss of $22.2million, compared to an estimated $9.5m loss due to fires in 2022.

This is a 133 per cent increase in loss of investments.

NFA advise

Mr Sowane said the onus rested on individuals and the best treatment was to avoid it from happening.

“The Fijian public are urged to observe and practise fire safety and road safety,” he said.

In any fire incident or road accident with injuries, please call 910 so firefighters can quickly respond and give victims the best opportunity to survive.

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