A wooden house on Cunningham Road was completely destroyed by fire, as reported on Friday, October 19, 1989. The property belonged to Gurdayal Singh from Wailoku and was being rented by Sergeant Taraiasi Yabaki of the Fiji Military Forces. Sergeant Yabaki mentioned that he lost all of his possessions in the blaze.
At the time of the incident, neither he nor his wife, who is employed at the military hospital in Tamavua, were at home. The house, which contained three bedrooms, was also shared by another couple and a single woman. The fire is thought to have ignited around 11 am.
A neighbor indicated that the fire might have started in the kitchen, although the other occupants claimed they had not been cooking that day as they were getting ready to go out. Sergeant Yabaki, who had recently bought new furniture from Burns Philp, estimated the damage to his furniture alone at around $5,000. Unfortunately, the household items were not insured, and it is uncertain whether the house itself was covered by insurance. The fire brigade was unable to save the structure.