Watilala Fonu.

A woman in Nadonumani, Lami, is traumatized after losing everything in a fire yesterday, but she says her first concern when she arrived at the scene was her neighbour.

A six-month-old baby was killed in a fire in Nadonumai yesterday evening, and two houses were destroyed.

Watilala Fonu claims she was on her way home after finishing work when she learnt about the incident.

[Watilala Fonu]

She claims that when she arrived, she saw both houses completely engulfed in flames, and her first concern was for her neighbour, who has a large family.

“Honestly, I ran down the footpath and the first thing that came to my mind is the children in the neighbour’s house because I know there’s a few of them and I started asking everybody around me whether they were safe, whether someone has taken them out because all this can be replaced but a life can’t be replaced once it’s gone.”

Fonu later discovered that a baby was trapped in the house.

She says she felt relieved knowing her father was in church and safe when the fire started.

She goes on to say that the damage to her house is estimated to be in the $100,000 range.

The traumatizing experience, according to the 47-year-old, has left her still trying to process what happened.

Despite her own loss, Fonu says she sympathizes with her neighbour, who lost not only their home but also their baby.