NATIONAL Fire Authority CEO Puamau Sowane has confirmed the fire which broke out at Nadi’s Capricorn Hotel on Wednesday started in the laundry room.
“The report I received from the ground is that our people from Nadi received the call around 12.59am and they arrived there at 1.09am,” he said.
“They managed to put out the fire, but as usual, they experienced low pressure from the fire hydrant. So, they had to use our thermal pump to drop water from the pool, to extinguish the fire.
“The fire started from the laundry area, and according to the report that I received, a total of 27 hotel rooms and laundry rooms were destroyed by the fire.”
Mr Sowane said the building was insured.
“No one got injured, and I believe that 45 guests, one female receptionist and a security officer were safely evacuated from the building.”
Hotel general manager Rajnita Bhan said it was temporarily closed following the fire.
Ms Bhan said the management would only be able to comment on the estimated cost of damage after the authority released its incident report.
“We were running at 60 to 65 per cent occupancy when the fire happened last night,” she said.
“The guests are safe and being accommodated at the Hexagon Hotel. We are retaining our staff but for now they are being told to stay home until we get clearance from the police, NFA and the Nadi Town Council.”
Ms Bhan said she also did not wish to give way to speculation as members of the public were alluding to the possible cause of the fire on social media.
“We have yet to receive the report from the NFA ,but for now the safety of our guests and staff is the priority.”
Ms Bhan commended the timely response of the NFA, saying they “responded within minutes and no one was injured. All our staff and guests were safely evacuated”.
