National Fire Authority’s Levuka Fire station received a running call at 12.30am about a property fire at the old Levuka Hospital located between the new Levuka Hospital and the hospital mortuary.
The duty team of four firefighters as well as seven off-duty fire officers arrived at the scene to find the four-room vacant wooden heritage building fully engulfed in flames.
Using a fire appliance with a 3000-litre tank capacity the crew established 1 delivery of 4 lengths from tank supply to put out the fire and stop it from spreading to the nearby new hospital and mortuary, which were very closely located to the old hospital.
Being a wooden building and fanned by a sea breeze, the fire spread rapidly causing the four patients at the new hospital to be evacuated to Levuka Vakaviti Village nearby.
The fire spread was so rapid and intense that the fire crew focused on containing the fire and preventing its spread to the new hospital and mortuary,
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