Disney World Epcot fire: What caused massive blaze in Orlando park | Revealed

A fire broke out at Walt Disney World's EPCOT park on Saturday, forcing evacuations

Updated on: Mar 23, 2025, 11:26:49 IST

By HT News Desk

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A fire broke out at Walt Disney World's EPCOT park on Saturday, forcing evacuations. The blaze broke out just after 7 PM local time, Fox35 Orlando reported. Videos on social media showed dark plumes of smoke over the France Pavilion of the Orlando theme park.

A fire near Disney World's EPCOT on Saturday (Representative image)

Visitors were asked to evacuate from the Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure ride, the report added. The blaze was quickly extinguished and no injuries were reported.

What caused the Disney EPCOT fire?

A Disney representative, as per the Associated Press, confirmed that the smoke plume was caused by a walk-in cooler that caught fire.

It is currently not known how the cooler began burning.

According to the AP report, the walk-in cooler was behind the France Pavilion in a backstage area. The pavilion is part of the World Showcase at the resort's Epcot theme park.

The official further told the agency that it was quickly put out by the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District fire department. The pavilion was reopened to theme park guests.

Disney World is yet to address the incident. The Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure at Walt Disney World Resort is a trackless 4D dark ride in the France Pavilion. Opened on October 1, 2021, it shrinks guests to rat size for a chaotic dash through Gusteau’s restaurant from Pixar’s Ratatouille.

Epcot is one of four major theme parks at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando. It hosts millions of guests each year and features 11 national pavilions in its World Showcase.

Videos from Disney EPCOT

Several visitors posted videos of the fire on social media. In one clip from one of the park's cable cars, dozens of people can be seen leaving the Pavilion. According to locals, the cooler ignited without warning and sparked a blaze.

“It’s out now, but it was a scary moment for a minute!” one person wrote on X, platform formerly known as Twitter.

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HT News Desk
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