A beachfront celebration in Bali, Indonesia, descended into panic after a balloon reportedly exploded inside a well-known restaurant, triggering a fast-moving fire.
Video from the scene showed flames tearing through Chez Gado-Gado in the resort area of Seminyak on Sunday. An Australian teenager was taken to hospital with burns after the incident, according to 7News.
“There was a 70th birthday, and they had two balloons on their table and a waitress went to light the candle on the birthday cake, but she lit it a bit too close to the balloon,” Tara Borelli, a witness from Sydney, told News.com.au. “It popped, then exploded. We felt the heat from the pop.”
Borelli said she reacted instantly, grabbing her daughter and young cousin before running onto the beach toward the water. She said the restaurant’s straw roof caught fire almost immediately, and “within minutes” the whole venue was burning.
Flames engulf the Chez Gado-Gado restaurant in Bali, Indonesia, after a fire broke out on Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026. (Chrissy Lomas via Storyful)
“It lit up like a firecracker… people were screaming and crying and running around,” another witness, Paul Cole, told 9News.
The Badung Fire and Rescue Service said crews needed more than two hours to extinguish the blaze, and no deaths were reported, according to The Bali Sun.
First Inspector I Gede Adi Saputra Jaya of the Denpasar Police told reporters Monday that, based on witness accounts, investigators “strongly suspected” the fire began when a balloon “was hit by a candle flame, causing it to explode and catch fire,” the outlet reported.
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It took firefighters more than two hours to put out the flames at the Chez Gado-Gado restaurant in the Seminyak resort area of Bali, Indonesia, officials said. (Chrissy Lomas via Storyful)
“Initial extinguishing efforts using fire extinguishers by restaurant staff were unsuccessful because the fire had already grown large and spread quickly to the thatched roof,” he reportedly said.
One witness told 9News, “There are the balloons, a lot of explosions, explosion and explosion and explosion, it was just, yeah, it was terrible.”
“It was just bedlam,” added Joe Xuereb, another witness. “As soon as the fire started, people didn’t know what to do.”
Witnesses reported chaos at the restaurant in Bali, Indonesia, after the fire erupted on Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026. (Chrissy Lomas via Storyful)
The restaurant now says on its website that it is “temporarily closed.”
