Bali Traders Discovering Scale Of Losses After Tourist Market Fire 

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Traders, small business owners, and the wider Ubud community are coming to terms with the impacts of a devastating fire that destroyed the world-famous Ubud Art Marker on Saturday, 17th August.

The cause of the fire has not yet been established, but as an investigation remains underway, over 1,000 vendors are reckoning with the substantial losses. 

A trader who has lost all of his business’s stock to the blaze has spoken to reporters about his experience over the weekend.

Ketut Merta, who sells bed linen and garments at Ubud Art Market, has been running a tourist stall since the early 1970s and is coming to terms with the loss.

Merta told reporters, “This is the second time this has happened; previously, the old market had a big fire like this.”

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His stall was located on the second floor of the building, but he was not in the building when the fire broke out on Saturday at lunchtime. Merta explained, “I was still at home; my son-in-law called and said the Ubud Market was on fire. At this point, if you want to save things on the 2nd floor, you can’t get in because it’s right above the basement. It looks like it’s been burnt.”

Merta believes that he has lost IDR 250 million (USD 16,000) in stock and will incur even more costs in order to set up a new stall from which to operate. Merta, like hundreds of other vendors who operated out of Ubud Art Market, is now left in limbo while the local authorities establish a new venue for the market and establish whether compensation can be awarded. 

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Speaking to the press in the immediate aftermath of the blaze, the Acting Regent of Gianyar, Dewa Tagel Wirasa, explained that the market will, of course, be closed for the foreseeable future, but discussions will begin immediately as to the next steps. Regent Wirasa was joined at the site by the ex-deputy Governor of Bali, Cok Ace. 

Regent Wirasa said, “Traders in conditions like this will definitely not be able to open. For renovations, we check first. We had time to communicate with several experts about the structural condition of the building.”

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Cok Ace told reporters, “This high season is a good opportunity for Ubud Market traders to increase their income, but instead, there is a disaster. Hopefully, there will be improvements quickly, and traders will be relocated temporarily.”

It has now been confirmed that 28 motorcycles were also destroyed in the fire, with over 50 damaged by the blaze.

The cause of the fire remains unconfirmed, though investigators have suggested that four 3kg LPG gas canisters were close to the starting location of the fire and that some electrical cables have also been collected for investigation and are suspected of having been dysfunctional in some way. 

Further issues could arise regarding compensation and the reallocation of stall placements, as traders have revealed to the media that not all vendors in the market had usage rights licenses, and some were using the site based on permissions granted for the original Ubud Art Market, which was also destroyed in a fire. 

The fire has shaken the Ubud community; some residents are fearful for the safety of their nearby homes after the fire ripped through the newly built building so quickly.

Tourism stakeholders have also been calling for improved fire safety protocols to be implemented across Bali in the wake of fires that destroyed holes and private villas in the resorts of Padangbai and Seminyak last month.

While no one was reported injured, the fires destroyed two hotels, one villa resort complex, and a restaurant, and guests lost their belongings to the blaze too. 

Fires in Bali are not an uncommon occurrence, with short-circuited, faulty electrical systems, trash fires, and cigarette butts all having been noted to care devastating fires in both commercial and residential areas.