On Monday, August 18, buildings caught fire at Bingin Beach, which were recently declared illegal and had begun to be dismantled. The remains of villas and cafes on the cliff caught fire. The former Blue Ocean restaurant was the first to burn, but the fire quickly spread to other structures, halting the demolition process.
The fire was noticed around 10:00 AM local time. The first to catch fire was the section with a thatched roof and wooden beams. By 1:00 PM, the fire had intensified and spread to neighboring structures. According to the police, the buildings that burned were those previously deprived of licenses due to violations of coastal zone construction regulations.
The head of the Badung district Satpol PP, I Gusti Agung Ketut Suryanegara, said the cause of the fire was technical. This version is also confirmed by some witnesses. Workers with gas cylinders and metal cutting equipment were present at Bingin that day. They were dismantling metal structures, and the hot sparks, carried by the strong wind, ignited the dry grass and thatched roofs.
The terrain also did not favor a quick containment of the flames. The buildings stood on a cliff slope, and large water trucks could not reach the area. Compact units and hand pumps had to be used, as well as seawater. Local residents and workers tried to extinguish the flames, but the wind rendered their efforts almost futile.
The fire was fully extinguished only after 5 and a half hours. As South Kuta Police Chief Komang Agus explained, only ruins were burning at that point, as the main structures had already been dismantled earlier.
According to official data, there were no casualties. Meanwhile, authorities emphasize: this was not arson, everything happened due to safety violations during the demolition of the buildings.
All dismantling work at Bingin is now suspended until further notice, until experts confirm the site is safe.
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