Family in Port Moresby loses house to fire

A family at Rainbow in Port Moresby lost their home of 24 years to a fire yesterday.
Owner Stephen Salun, a senior officer with the Ministry of Trade, said the fire engulfed the building quickly but luckily his family weren’t harmed.
“It is our private house, we have been living here since 1994,” Salum said.
“I had demolished the (old) building and had it rebuilt. Everything is new, I don’t know if there was a short-circuit but the fire may have been caused by a heated fan.
“My son sustained minor injuries, otherwise we are all safe.
“Losing this property (house) feels like losing my child.”
Salum estimated the total cost of the damage to be about K2 million.
Papua New Guinea Fire Service Chief Bill Roo said his officers could not go in with the fire truck as the crowd became abusive and landed a stone on the truck, smashing its windscreen.
Roo appealed to the public to understand the service.
“We may not always put out fires but when we go in we try to prevent it from spreading to nearby houses,” he said.
“I only ask the public to understand us.
“The crowd became abusive towards the officers, they felt threatened so they left.”