A WA woman who purchased party balloons which exploded and set a popular Bali restaurant on fire — leaving her teenage son with burns to his face and arms — says she felt she’d been sold a “ticking time bomb”.
The 17-year-old was among diners caught up in the blaze that ripped through Chez Gado Gado on Sunday night, forcing dozens to flee as flames engulfed the building.
Mt Barker resident Caitlin Speedy said she bought the party balloons for her mum’s 70th birthday celebration.
She had assumed they contained helium and was shocked when they burst into flames.
“I have no idea how they exploded, it just went up,” she said.
Ms Speedy said the balloon seller denied responsibility, saying they would have filled the balloons with helium if that’s what she’d asked for from the start.
“I was horrified,” she said. “I felt like they had literally sold me a ticking time bomb.”
As the diners fled for their lives, Ms Speedy said she ran back towards the flames.
“I just looked at my family and said, ‘I’ve got to go back’ and I ran straight through, I just didn’t want anyone to die,” she said.
While her son is now out of hospital, Indonesian authorities have stopped the family from flying home, seizing their passports.
Ms Speedy said being trapped on the island made the family feel like criminals.
“We’re only pulled in as witnesses, and yet we’re still being treated differently,” she said.
“I don’t think we should be held here. There were 300 people in the building, like everyone else essentially is a witness.
“(Our) next step is to try and sort out with immigration as to why we’re not able to leave.”
Indonesian authorities believed the blaze started after flammable gases in a party balloon exploded.
On Monday, a social media post by Villa Mataraz Bali warned guests that balloons were “no longer permitted anywhere within Mataraz Villas”.
“Balloons may be filled with hydrogen, a cheaper alternative to helium. Hydrogen is highly flammable,” the post read.
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