A wooden house on Cunningham Road was completely destroyed by fire, as reported on October 19, 1989. The property belonged to Gurdayal Singh of Wailoku and was currently rented by Sergeant Taraiasi Yabaki of the Fiji Military Forces. Sergeant Yabaki shared that he lost all of his belongings in the incident.
At the time of the fire, neither he nor his wife, who is employed at the military hospital in Tamavua, were at home. The house, featuring three bedrooms, was also occupied by another couple and a single woman. The fire is thought to have begun around 11 a.m.
According to a neighbor, the blaze may have started in the kitchen, although the couple residing in the house stated they had not cooked that day as they were in the process of getting ready to go out. Recently, Sergeant Yabaki had purchased new furniture from Burns Philp, and he estimated that the damage to the furniture alone amounted to about $5,000.
Unfortunately, the household items were not insured, and it remains uncertain if the house itself had any coverage. The fire brigade was unable to salvage the structure.