A fire that shot up billowing columns of black smoke and reportedly destroyed 14 villas in Bali’s Uluwatu on Monday was caused by welding sparks, according to the local fire department.
The welding was being conducted on the second floor of the Ocean One wedding building project, Badung Fire Department Chief I Wayan Wirya confirmed with reporters on Tuesday.
The extinguishing of the fire along with the whole cooling process took abut five hours, Wirya said.
“We deployed 15 fire engines including fire jeeps from various firefighting posts in Badung,” Wirya told Bali Post.
South Kuta Police Chief I Nengah Patrem said the incident started when workers from the project were on their lunch break.
The workers tried and failed to extinguish the fire, which spread quickly with the wind to Blue Point Villas adjacent to the project.
“Thankfully there were no fatalities,” Patrem told Sindonews on Tuesday.
Although fortunately no one was killed or injured in the fire, losses were big, reaching an estimated IDR4 billion (US$ 275,500).
Bali Police’s forensics has a team investigating the fire, according to Patrem.