A Perth woman has recounted the terrifying moment she watched a Bali restaurant become “engulfed in flames” while waiting for her table.
Perth mums Emma Pilatti and Tash Welburn were sitting in Chez Gado Gado as they waited for the rest of their group to arrive for an 8pm reservation.
The pair had been told their table was not ready yet, so the women waited for a spot in the jam-packed restaurant, that had an estimated “300-400” inside, by the main bar.
Moments after drinks were ordered the chaos unfolded.
“We were sat down on the couch and the waiter came over asking if we wanted drinks,” Ms Pilatti said.
“Just as we ordered our drinks, I turned around and the people that had these balloons were sitting in front of us.
“They must of lit a candle and it just went boom, everyone thought it was a bomb.”
She recalled the moment the balloons burst, describing the fire racing up to the roof akin to a feather rising.
Watching the horror unfold in “slow motion”, as there was nothing that could be done to avoid what would happen next.
“It was like slow motion, as soon as the flame touched the roof it was a mass explosion, the whole roof just ignited,” she said.
“The waiters were trying to put it out with serviettes and napkins . . . one grabbed a fire extinguisher and was trying to put it out, which obviously didn’t do anything.”
Once the blaze set off the roof it was pandemonium inside the venue.
The pair got rushed to get out as quick as possible while the “inferno engulfed the whole place”.
“I turned to Tash and said ‘move’, and she was confused, saying ‘what?’,” Ms Pilatti said.
“I grabbed her and pushed her out the back door, and we just started running up the street.
“People had fallen over, cut knees, women were screaming . . . we were saying ‘just keep moving’.”
As the crowd inside the restaurant all rushed towards the front door, the women made a run to the back door.
Thick smoke blanketed the Seminyak area as local emergency services fought to stop the blaze spreading to nearby buildings.
The fire, which erupted around 7.40pm local time, resulted in more than $300,000 in damage and required 115,000 litres of water to extinguish, according to local media.
No official statement has been distributed by the restaurant or its parent company, Double Six.
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