Residents warned: Do not light fires unnecessarily

By TREVOR WAHUNE
A FIRE Service official is warning Port Moresby residents not to light fires unnecessarily because of the city’s windy conditions that may see them spread uncontrollably.
Boroko Fire Station commander John Ape told The National yesterday that residents in Port Moresby should be careful when making fires next to properties.
The warning comes after a fire that started from a small house attached to the University of Papua New Guinea school mess almost burnt the entire building on Saturday night.
“The fire started from a small house that is attached to the school mess, the smoke started to go into the building,” Ape said.
“Luckily, we were able to arrive quickly and contain the whole building in time.”
Ape said the cause of the fire was still unknown.
“Someone might have been burning rubbish outside the mess and the wind caused it to light up the school mess,” he said.
“That, we still don’t know, but there is an investigating team on the ground that should tell us more about what started the fire.
“It was just plain carelessness.”
Meanwhile, efforts to obtain comment from the UPNG administration through the UPNG public relations officer James Robins were unsuccessful yesterday.