Investigations into Boroko fire incident in progress

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Investigations are still going on to establish the cause of the fire at Boroko in Port Moresby on Friday.
Acting Chief Fire Officer Bill Roo said the fire at Johnstons Pharmacy and Papindo were not related to the Gutpela Kaikai fast food outlet the day before.
“Fire fighters prevented fire from spreading to these two buildings and brought the fire under control by 7pm that evening,” he said.
“But fire fighters stayed at the scene until about 12.45am, ensuring that all pocket fires were extinguished.”
Roo said on arrival, Port Moresby firefighters discovered that both Johnstons Pharmacy and Papindo were on fire.
He said they were investigating the fire at YMC as there was a fire wall between the shop and Johnstons Pharmacy.
However, Roo said given the fuel load and the old age of the two buildings (Johnstons Pharmacy and Papindo), the fires burnt “very fast”.
“Our firefighters did their best to keep the fires in check in their original locations,” Roo said.
He said investigations were still going on but it was possible that arson may have been the cause.