Balinese ‘demon’ spotted in photo of Canggu flames

With all the reports of fires we’ve gotten in a very dry 2016, we’re getting the impression that Bali is burning. Properties on Padang Padang Beach went up in flames just last week, while Bali’s largest and oldest market, Pasar Badung, burnt to the ground in March.

Now the latest fire is apparently in Canggu. The news broke on social media after Diomar Romero, a member of the Canggu Community Facebook group, posted a picture on Monday night, identifying the location as “5’s surf school” in Batu Bolong. 

fire in Canggu

Since the picture was posted, dozens of comments from concerned Canggu residents have rolled in, begging for more information and marveling at the amount of fires this year. There are over 11,000 members in the Facebook group. 

One of the most interesting comments pointed out how the shape of the flames in the photo look like ogoh-ogoh (effigies used in Nyepi that are predominatnly demon-shaped). And we have to say, we absolutely agree:

Batu Bolong fire

Up close:

Indonesian media has not yet reported on this story, so very limited information about the fire has been made publicly available at this time. But commenters seemed to agree that there wasn’t any knowledge of someone being injured and the damage appeared to be only structural. 



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