THERE was not a dry eye after a moving church service to pay tribute to a teenager who was burnt alive with her family last week.
Suva Grammar School held a memorial service for Shelly Heffernan, a student and sportswoman.
Many shared fond memories of the 16-year-old who was interim head girl last year.
Lisa Judith, one of her friends, said Shelly was liked by everyone who knew her at school because of her attitude.
"She was very outspoken and she was not afraid to point out to the teachers when they made mistakes and she was nice," said Lisa.
She said they could not hold back their tears at the memorial service because one of their school mates and close friend had died in a tragic manner.
The funeral service for the Heffernans will be held at Gospel High School hall today.
Sixty-nine year old Edward Heffernan, a retired major in the Fiji Military Forces, his 40-year-old wife Mere Vulakoro, their 16-year-old daughter Shelly who was in Form Six at Grammar and their 14-year-old grandson Peni Heffernan, a Form Four student of Laucala Bay Secondary School died in the fire which destroyed their home last week.
The four could not escape because they could not unlock the burglar bars surrounding their house.
Mere's younger sister, Lavinia, said the police had released their bodies to the family after the post-mortem examination.
Acting Assistant Police Commissioner Crime Josaia Rasiga said investigations into the cause of the fire were ongoing.
ASP Rasiga said police, forensics, National Fire Authority and the Fiji Electricity Authority were each doing their own investigation to determine the cause of fire.
"The FEA is trying to find out if there was any electrical fault which caused the fire.
"We have taken samples from the scene and if our investigations reveal anything suspicious, we will seek overseas help to enable us to analyse the evidence but at the moment we are conducting the investigation," he said.
ASP Rasiga refused to divulge the result of the post-mortem examination.
