Ba Fire Destroys Two Homes
“At around 11.45pm, I woke up and saw the fire has spread throughout the house. I can’t say anything about how the fire started, but it was a corrugated iron and wooden house,” he said.
Thursday 18 January 2024 | 10:41
The home in Sarava, Ba, that was destroyed in a fire on January 16, 2024. Inset: Mohammed Jalil on January 17, 2024. Photo: Salote Qalubau
A house in Yalalevu and a second in Sarava, Ba, were destroyed by fire on Monday.
When contacted yesterday, the owner of the home in Yalalevu refused to be interviewed and neighbours also declined to comment on the incident.
The Divisional Police Commander West Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Iakobo Vaisewa said property owners must ensure their homes were fire compliant.
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Since investigations are still underway, the cause of fire for both incidents are yet to be determined.
National Fire Authority (NFA) chief executive officer Puamau Sowane said both homes were duplex style houses and not insured.
The house at Yalalevu is located at Lot 68, Kings Road and occupied by the owner’s son, whose family of three were now homeless.
“We received the call at 7.05am and NFA officers arrived at 7.07am , there were no casualties and the estimated worth of damage is $100,000. The house had two adjoined flats, flat one had one bedroom and flat two had two bedrooms,” he said
The home in Sarava, Ba, that was destroyed in a fire on January 16, 2024. Photo: Salote Qalubau
In the second fire at Sarava, Mr Sowane said the first flat had six bedrooms while the second had four.
“NFA received the call at 8.05pm and personnel arrived at the scene by 8.12pm to find it fully engulfed,” he said.
“The house had two flats The owner of the flat with four bedrooms is in the USA while the owner of the flat with six bedrooms was inside the flat when the fire started, however there were no casualties and the estimated damage is $300,000.”
The house is five kilometres from the Kings Rd and the property was vacant when the Fiji Sun team arrived yesterday.
Neighbour Mohammed Jalil said the elevated location of his house allowed him to have a bird’s eye view of the house on fire.
“At around 11.45pm, I woke up and saw the fire has spread throughout the house. I can’t say anything about how the fire started, but it was a corrugated iron and wooden house,” he said.
Feedback: salote.qalubau@fijisun.com.fj
