CAPTION: MH Supermarket on fire in Nadi Town. Photo: SUPPLIED.
A fire at the MH Supermarket in the Main Street, Nadi Town in the early hours of this morning totally destroyed the Nadi Town MH Supermarket.
The Nadi and the Lautoka Fire Stations both responded to the fire emergency call which was received at 0120hrs this morning. The Nadi Airport Fire and Rescue team also responded to the fire.
When the crews arrived at the scene, the MH supermarket was fully engulfed with flames. Due to the magnitude of the fire, fire fighting was difficult and challenging. Heat emitted from the fire could be felt on the opposite side of the road at the Jacks Handicraft.
Chief Executive Officer John O’Connor who was at the site in the early hours of this morning said their main focus was to stop the fire from spreading to the RB Patel Supermarket, the Sharma’s Centre, ANZ, Prouds, Jacks Handicraft and other nearby businesses in the Main Street, Nadi Town.
“Due to the magnitude of the fire, the firefighters fought hard to extinguish the fire within the MH Supermarket to prevent the fire from spreading to the RB Patel Supermarket and the nearby businesses in the Main Street of Nadi Town.
Mr O’Connor also thanked Water Authority of Fiji and the Fiji Police Force for their support in boosting the water pressure and controlling the crowd. Their support was critical for the effective fire fighting and the outcome.
“The support from the Water Authority and the Fiji Police Force was greatly appreciated for assisting our firefighting operations,” Mr O’Connor said.
Mr O’Connor also thanked the Airport Fire and Rescue Services. Their timely intervention was greatly appreciated and greatly assisted in bringing the fire under control.
The NFA CEO is again urging the business owners to ensure that they take extra care and they must ensure fire safety procedures are followed at all times in their business properties.
“Business owners must now recognize that fire is a major risk to their business and must ensure that they implement fire mitigation strategies to avoid the risk of fires occurring in their properties.
The NFA CEO highlighted that this year, more than eleven million dollars were lost as a result of these forty structural fires in 2013, not including this fire.
“It is really important that members of the community and Business owners must also ensure that they comply with the fire safety requirements to avoid the risk of fires occurring in their properties and avoid the suffering which they have to go through as result of a fire,” Mr O’Connor said.
“We hope that the members of the community take heed of our advice to avoid unnecessary fire incidents from damaging or destroying their properties”, Mr O’Connor added.
PRESS RELEASE