In Reply to: Fire Trap...potential bonfire! posted by Rob_two on Saturday, 6. August 2005 at 12:21 Bali Time:
The incense burning inside the market, as in any shop, house, etc, in Bali, goes on all the time, each day. In my fifteen years spent in my village near Ubud, I have never seen (nor heard when I am away) of a single house fire, which is nothing but miraculous.
Inside the Sumawati market, as you saw yourself, it's a succession of small shops, piled up on the top of each other, with mountains of (flamable) goods to the ceilings. And each owner makes an offering each day, which of course, includes burning incense. Surely, the Balinese are close to the gods who protect them, at least from non-stop conflagrations...