A blaze engulfed an old timber house on Railway Road, Kolofo’ou, this morning, destroying the property within minutes in dry and windy conditions. 

It is believed the house was vacant.

Tonga's Fire Commander Latu said they received the fire call at 10:51am today 4 January, from a neighbour to the property, situated behind the Seventh Day Adventist Hilliard Memorial School and Si'i Kae Ola Supermarket.

“We reached the location within 2-3 minutes but the fire had already covered the whole house” he said. “A 14m x 8.5m old timber house with a bit of wind, this quickly spread the fire.”

 “So the task was to stop the fire from spreading to the neighbours, fire spots had flown over to the Hilliard Primary School across the road but we managed to put them out.”

They are still investigating into the cause of the fire. 

The large blaze which englufed  a mango tree and a car in the property attracted many spectators. Among them was the owner of the property, an overseas Tongan, Sefesi Sitauti and family who are visiting Tonga on vacation from Australia.

Sefesi was staying at another family property in Kolomotu’a and rushed over when he got the call. He is sad, because he had plans for the house before the fire.

“I had plans to tear down the house and donate the timber to a family,” Sefesi said.

“Our family home was built in the 1950s by my father and grandfather. We had migrated since 1984 to Australia, and relatives have occupied the house from time to time.”

Tonga’s Fire Department notes that while the weather conditions remain dry and windy, fires can spread rapidly. They urged caution with fireworks and vigilance to prevent bush fires and property fires.