A fire has completely destroyed a wooden house on Cunningham Road, according to reports from The Fiji Times published on Friday, October 19, 1989. The property, owned by Gurdayal Singh from Wailoku, was being rented by Sergeant Taraiasi Yabaki, a member of the Fiji Military Forces.
Sergeant Yabaki expressed his devastation, stating 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 present at the house. The three-bedroom residence also housed another couple and a single woman.
The fire is thought to have ignited around 11 AM. A neighbor suggested that the fire may have started in the kitchen; however, the couple who were at home asserted that they had not cooked that day as they were getting ready to go out.
Sergeant Yabaki, who had recently purchased new furniture valued at approximately $5,000 from Burns Philp, noted that their household items were uninsured. It remains unclear whether the house itself had insurance coverage. Unfortunately, the fire brigade was unable to save the structure from the flames.