A fire broke out at the Ubud art market in Gianyar District, Bali, around 1:00 p.m. local time on Saturday. The fire is believed to have started in a clothes shop inside the market complex.
A spokesman for the Bali police, Senior Commissioner Jansen Avitus Panjaitan confirmed that several witnesses saw the fire originate from inside a clothes store in the east basement, section number 3, of the market.
“We deeply regret that this incident occurred on Indonesia’s 79th Independence Day,” Panjaitan stated.
Fortunately, no casualties have been reported. The Gianyar Fire and Rescue Agency quickly deployed 21 fire trucks to extinguish the flames, with assistance from local police and military personnel.
The Ubud art market, particularly Block A, has a history of fires. A previous blaze in March 2016 led to renovations, which were completed on September 23, 2023.
Indonesia has faced several significant fires in recent years. On August 3, 2024, a fire broke out at a three-story building at Padang State Polytechnic in West Sumatra. Earlier, on April 18, 2024, a shop fire in Mampang Prapatan, Jakarta, claimed seven lives.
One of the most devastating incidents was the Plumpang Pertamina Depot fire in North Jakarta on March 3, 2023, which tragically took 33 lives. Another fire in Pademangan Subdistrict, North Jakarta, on October 22, 2022, resulted in three deaths.
This latest fire raises calls for more steps to be taken to prevent further fires from starting in the future.
