Five families are now homeless after their homes were destroyed in a raging fire at Nadoria Village, Dreketi, in Rewa yesterday morning.
And low water pressure worsened efforts by firefighters from three stations – Nausori, Nakaasi and Suva – to douse the flames.
The National Fire Authority’s Command Centre received the emergency call through the 910 toll free line at 1.38am.
Firefighters from the Nausori station were immediately deployed and arrived at the scene to find four comes fully engulfed in flames.
NFA chief executive Puamau Sowane said low water pressure in the area affected their ability to quickly put out the fire, and the fire crews had to rely on their own supply and the tanker from the Suva fire station.
He said they alerted the Water Authority of Fiji team to boost water pressure in the area, and the Energy Fiji Limited (EFL) to switch off power to the properties.
“After a little over an hour at the scene, firefighters managed to fully extinguish the flames, but the five houses were completely destroyed,” Mr Sowane said.
The houses destroyed were:
- a five-bedroom wooden house belonging to 51-year-old man, and three other occupants;
- a three-bedroom house belonging to a 50-year-old woman, and three other occupants;
- a wooden house belonging to a 53-year-old man;
- a one-bedroom house belonging to a 74-year-old woman, with one other occupant; and
- a home belonging to a 74-year-old woman that was being renovated.
Mr Sowane urged members of the public to practice fire safety awareness, particularly in a village setting where special consideration on spacing of homes needed to be taken seriously.
Fire inspectors are working on the scene to determine the probable cause of the fire.
