Officers probe cause of fire that razed shops

FIRE officers are investigating the cause of a fire which destroyed a group of shops in Port Moresby on Saturday.
Chief Fire Officer Bill Roo said the cause of the fire was yet to be established, with investigations to continue this week.
He said they suspected that the fire had started at the ground floor of the first compartment which was next to the road.
“The fire was extinguished at the ground floor by the fire officers but the fire somehow started at the top floor of the same compartment and eventually moved to other sections and compartments of the building and eventually destroyed the whole building,” Roo said.
The investigation started yesterday morning. It is understood that the building was occupied by a logging company, compartments of block shops and electrical item shops.
Roo said it was raining in Port Moresby around 5pm when the fire started.
Attempts to get comment from the shop owners were unsuccessful.