A wooden house on Cunningham Rd was engulfed by fire, as reported by The Fiji Times on October 19, 1989. The residence, owned by Gurdayal Singh from Wailoku, was being rented by Sergeant Taraiasi Yabaki of the Fiji Military Forces.
Sergeant Yabaki expressed to The Fiji Times that he lost all his possessions in the blaze. At the time of the fire, both he and his wife, who is employed at the military hospital in Tamavua, were away from home. The three-bedroom house was also shared by another couple and a single woman.
The fire is thought to have ignited around 11 a.m. A neighbor suggested that the fire may have begun in the kitchen; however, the occupants present at the time stated they had not been cooking that day as they were preparing to leave.
Sergeant Yabaki, who had recently acquired new furniture from Burns Philp, estimated the damage to his furniture alone to be around $5,000. The household items were uninsured, and it remains uncertain whether the house itself was covered. The fire brigade was unable to save the structure.