A fire gutted the Rotomould Pacific Ltd building at the Small Industries Centre compound at Ma’ufanga in the early morning on 30 June.

Deputy Fire Commissioner Sinamoni Kauvaka said today, that the fire was reported just before 1:00am by one of the security guards at the compound.

He said no one was hurt in the blaze but the double storey building was gutted. It contained production materials, including electrical tools.

“About 95 percent of the building and materials were damaged. We estimate the cost to be over $300,000 pa’anga.”

He said that an investigation is continuing to determine the cause of the fire. They know that the blaze started from the eastern side of the building and spread from there.

"We urge the public and business establishments to be more vigilant in safety so as to ensure their homes or work places are safe from anything that can cause a fire," he said.

The company manufactures polyethylene water tanks under the brand name of Rota Tanks.

Target of social media abuse

Meanwhile, this is the second fire reported at a water tank manufacturing company in Tonga.

Tonga Police on 3 June reported that a man had been convicted under the Electronic Communications Abuse Offences Act (ECAOA) on two counts of using a service to abuse and cause harm by posting an electronic communication. His social media postings by live video had targeted the two water tank companies run by Indian nationals. The police report said that the convicted man had enticed others to commit arson.