A fire completely destroyed a wooden house on Cunningham Road, as reported on October 19, 1989. The property belonged to Gurdayal Singh of Wailoku and was being rented by Sergeant Taraiasi Yabaki of the Fiji Military Forces. Sergeant Yabaki expressed that he lost all his possessions in the fire, which occurred while neither he nor his wife, an employee at the military hospital in Tamavua, were at home.
The house featured three bedrooms and was also inhabited by another couple and a single woman. The fire is thought to have started around 11 a.m. A neighbor suggested the blaze might have originated from the kitchen; however, the couple who were at the residence claimed they had not cooked that day as they were preparing to leave.
Sergeant Yabaki had recently acquired new furniture worth approximately $5,000 from Burns Philp, and he indicated that none of the household items were insured. It is also uncertain whether the structure itself was covered by insurance. Sadly, the fire brigade was unable to save the building.