A family of five has become homeless following the destruction of their two-bedroom home in a fire in Rarawai, Ba, on Wednesday night. Manoj Kumar, a 55-year-old retired employee of the Fiji Sugar Corporation, could only watch in despair as flames engulfed the house where he had lived with his wife and three children for the past 50 years.
“The incident occurred very quickly. I had driven to the TOTAL Service Station to pick up my son, wife, and daughter, and by the time we returned, our home was ablaze,” Mr. Kumar recounted.
The fire broke out around 10:30 PM while the family was away from home. “It was heartbreaking to stand there with just the clothes on our backs; everything else was lost in the fire,” he added. Mr. Kumar and his family had been in Nadi when they waited at the service station for their elder son to finish work on the night of the incident.
Authorities believe the fire originated from one of the rooms, but police are still investigating the cause and have ruled out an electrical fault. Mr. Kumar expressed the family’s devastation, stating, “We have lived in that house for 50 years, and now we have nothing left, only a few clothes as everything else was destroyed.” Currently, the family is staying temporarily at a relative’s home in Rarawai.
“We urgently need financial assistance to rebuild our house, as well as food and clothing,” he appealed. Attempts to reach the chief executive officer of the National Fire Authority, Puamau Sowane, for a comment were unsuccessful. Those wishing to help Mr. Kumar’s family can contact him directly at 9953371.