3 more HB houses burnt

Three more houses have been burnt to ashes at Hanuabada this morning.

The fire is said to have started at around 6:30am from a widow's house and spread to the two nearby houses.

Bele Heni says it started in her bedroom but she is not aware of what may have caused it.

Heni had spent the night with her niece and was alerted only this morning when the house was ablaze.

The villagers however, were quick to respond, containing what could have been another major disaster for the village.

According to locals, the youth stood on banana boats, some climbed onto the roof of nearby houses and used buckets to scoop sea water to extinguish the fire.

"It was all community work," said Joel Rohu, who witnessed the incident.

"Luckily, there was a king tide last night so this morning, the tide was still high. And it wasn't as windy as it was on Saturday. This is why the situation this time was easy to contain," Rohu said.

He said the fire department did arrive in time but the houses were further in and the hose couldn't reach the location.

Although no one was hurt, none of the families were able to save anything.

"Outside is not solid ground, so we cannot break the windows and throw out our belongings. It's sea...one way in...one way out," said Laho Miva.

Miva's house was also burnt down, leaving his family homeless with at least 30 more people from the other two homes.

This is the second fire disaster for the village in just three days.

The previous fire on Saturday had destroyed 15 houses. This brings to total 18 houses.

Author: 
Gloria Bauai
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