‘I begged, I cried’: Daughter mourns mother killed in Nausori fire

I cried, I begged, but there was nothing I could do. Watching your own mother calling out and not being able to save her… it breaks you.” 

Those were the heartbreaking words of Kelera Rokowati after a fire destroyed her family home in Lakena, Nausori, and claimed the life of her 79-year-old mother last Saturday afternoon. 

The family of six, who have lived in the area for more than 18 years, are left with nothing but the clothes on their backs and the painful memory of watching their mother’s life slip away. 

“We have nowhere else to go,” Ms Rokowati said. 

That morning (Saturday), Ms Rokowati followed her daily routine, leaving home  early to set up her market stall at the Nausori Market. Just before 5pm, she received a phone call that shattered her world. Her house was on fire.

“It felt like my heart stopped. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I rushed straight home, but when I got there, the house was already engulfed in flames,” she recalled, tears filling her eyes.

The family home, only 10 minutes from town, was covered in thick smoke and blazing heat when she arrived. Ms Rokowati said she felt helpless as she stood outside the burning house, hearing her elderly mother trapped inside.

Cry for help

“All I could hear was her voice crying out for help,” she said.

“I screamed for my sons and the people around to help me, but the fire was spreading too fast. We couldn’t go in. The heat was unbearable.”

She described the moment as the most painful of her life.

Hours before the fire, Ms Rokowati had bid farewell to her mother and her children, not knowing it would be the last time.

“I told her I was going to the market. She smiled at me like she always did. I never imagined that would be the last goodbye,” she said.

Her children later told her they had gone to church to prepare for Sunday service when the fire broke out. The cause of the fire remains unknown.

“I lost my husband before, and now my mother. I feel like I’ve lost everything - my family, my home, all our belongings,” Ms Rokowati said.

“All we have now are the clothes we are wearing and a little bit of cash. Everything else, our memories, our home is gone.”

Firefighters managed to recover the body of her mother at around 10am yesterday. The loss has left the family struggling to come to terms with their grief.

As she stood in front of the ashes of her home, Ms Rokowati said the pain was overwhelming.

“I didn’t expect her to die this way. It is very hard to accept. We don’t even have a place to live now. I don’t know how we will move forward,” she said.

For the Rokowati family, the fire has taken more than a house. It has taken a mother, a grandmother, and the very heart of their home.

Police last night confirmed that a joint investigation with the National Fire Authority (NFA) was underway to determine the cause of the house fire.

In a statement, police said the victim was alone at home when the blaze was believed to have started in the kitchen.

In an earlier report, NFA chief executive officer Puamau Sowane shared concerns over the number of elderly citizens dying in fire incidents.

So far this year, there have been six house fires in which elderly residents were trapped inside their properties and unable to escape. Two of these incidents resulted in deaths.

Mr Sowane urged homeowners to observe basic fire prevention strategies.