Commissioner of Police, Frank Prendergast has clarified why fire trucks were delayed to attend to a building burnt to ground at Chinatown last weekend.
Vuvula poultry, a two storey building near the old Mataniko Bailey Bridge at Chinatown was razed to the ground after attempts by firefighters to quell the blaze.
Commissioner Prendergast said, it was unfortunate that the fire trucks were also attending a grass fire east of Guadalcanal near the Good Samaritan hospital.
He said, this has caused the delay on which despite attempts to put off the fire, it had escalated and covered the whole building.
The police’s boss clarification came following public critics about the late arrival of the fire trucks to the scene.
Public critics said, if the fire trucks could have arrived earlier, they would have saved part of the building.
The cause of the fire is still not known however initial reports said it started from a cooking stove on the down floor.
Prendergast said whilst police is yet to verify the reports, investigations into the burned building is ongoing.
He said no suspects in relation to the incident have also been arrested and police will depend very much on the outcome of the current investigation.
By BRADFORD THEONOMI
