Zion Automotive manager Ruben Singh at the scene. [PHOTO:PRANEETA PRAKASH]
A fire that swept through a property at Laucala Beach this morning has claimed the lives of two people and destroyed four businesses, leaving business owners counting significant losses.
Zion Automotive manager Ruben Singh says he arrived at work just before 8am to find a crowd gathered outside the premises.
“I thought one of my dogs had bitten someone on the road, but when I asked what had happened, they told me there was a fire on the premises.”
Singh said that by the time he looked towards the landlord’s flat, it was already engulfed in flames.
“I tried to get close and call out to her because she’s handicapped, to see if she could come out, but there was no response.”
Singh said the National Fire Authority arrived within 10 to 15 minutes after being alerted and managed to extinguish the blaze.
He adds that the fire destroyed all four businesses operating on the property.
“We’ve lost quite a few vehicles in this incident. There’s a 12-wheeler truck, a company bus, a customer’s brand-new vehicle that was here for ceramic coating, another business lost a taxi, while others lost equipment. The grog pounding business also lost all of its stock.”
The fire also destroyed the residential home on the property.
Eyewitnesses told FBC News the victims were the female landlord and her recently adopted 10-year-old son, who were believed to have been inside the house when the fire started.
The child’s older brother Simione Cereiwasa Junior said he was at work when he received a call from his mother informing him about the fire.
“I came here and everything was already burnt. My brother passed away.”
Cereiwasa shared that his younger brother, a Year 5 student had been adopted by the landlord only last week.
Police and the National Fire Authority are investigating the cause of the fire.
