NFA Urges Residents to Ensure Fire Safety Compliance Measures

The National Fire is urging homeowners to ensure that they adhere to fire safety compliance measures to prevent their properties, especially homes from catching fire.

Authority chief executive officer Puamau Sowane said members of the public should ensure that proper materials were used in in their homes such as the electrical wiring.

Mr Sowane’s advice came after NFA fire investigators investigated the probable causes of two residential fires this week.

On Monday at 12.47pm, the Nadi Fire Station received a call from the NFA Command Centre reporting a structural fire at Korovuto.

Firefighters, when arriving at the scene, found a four-bedroom wooden and corrugated iron house burning.

The fire was fully extinguished 3.10pm. The house belonged to a 50-year-old carpenter who lived in the home with his wife, 50, a 26-year-old daughter and 14-year-old son.

The home was vacant when the fire started. It was noticed by a neighbour who saw smoke emitting from the kitchen and broke the front door to enter and tried to put the fire out, but was unsuccessful.

The home was not insured and sustained 100 per cent damage. The cost of damage to the home and its contents were estimated at $220,000. No injuries or fatalities were recorded.

In the second incident, Nadi Fire Station received a call at 7.39pm on the same day reporting a residential fire at Ciriwai East.

The fire crew responded immediately and found a two bedroom corrugated iron, timber and cement house engulfed in flames. They extinguished the flames, but the house sustained 95 per cent damage, the NFA reported.

“Given that electrical faults remain the highest cause of structural fires in Fiji, it is important to have a licensed electrician to check the whole electrical wiring system in your homes if it was wired more than 20 years ago,” he said.

“Over the years, the electrical wires insulation capability could possibly have lowered due to ageing factors. Electrical wire insulation deteriorates over time. Most electrical wire insulation design life expectancy are between 20 to 30 years,” Mr Sowane said.

“Losing a home means losing a life-long investment and it’s a sad occurrence for anyone. Even if homes are vacant, home owners must ensure a neighbour or the nearest Police post or station is notified in case of emergency.

Road accident

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the Pacific Harbour Fire Station received a call at 6.59am alerting the duty crew to a Road Accident Rescue (RAR) call near the Fiji Roads Authority depot at Taunovo, approximately 16 kilometres west of Navua Town.

The crew arrived at the scene to find two vehicles involved in a collision – a three-tonne truck and an eight tonne truck, with a man and a woman trapped inside the eight-tonne vehicle.

Source: National Fire Authority

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