Switzerland - 40 dead and 116 injured in fire in bar in Crans-Montana, Swiss ski resort, 1 January 2026

[Herat]

Earlier, there were claims that there was an emergency exit in the basement.

Has anyone been able to locate it? The bar occupied the basement and a ground-level terrace of a 7 story-condo building. It was on a slope, so there was an entrance from the upper road to Le Constitution visible on the Google earth maps. This one has a parking lot in front of it. From the grade it would appear this entrance probably had a staircase down to the terrace level and did not open directly into the bar. The exterior of the building confirms this, as there is a concrete stairway between the building and the one next to it. The exterior concrete stairway extends from that street level to the terrace level, below. It is possible there is an exit from the basement that could open onto the stairway, but it would also have had to have a staircase to the external door.

 

[Dotta]

Considering that it was long after midnight into New Year celebration (1.30 am??)
I guess!!
everyone was drunk.
Alcohol was flowing big way, sparkles were sparkling, mood was high.

It is a pity that teenagers as young as 14/15/16 were there.

JMO

 

[sunspun]

Wow!

https://twitter.com/x/status/2007244927093096823

"A hero banker saved ten youngsters from the Swiss ski resort inferno
by forcing open an emergency door
after his teenage daughter rang him pleading for help.

Paolo Campolo, 55,
raced from his home in Crans-Montana to Le Constellation bar,
where he prized open a side door to allow panicked revellers to run for their lives.

Mr Campolo, a Swiss-Italian financial analyst,
rushed to the scene after his distraught daughter called him to say her boyfriend and friends were trapped inside while she was waiting to enter.

With the main entrance blocked up by people cramming to escape,
he identified a door off to the side and forced it open.

Speaking from his hospital bed,
where he is being treated for smoke inhalation,
the heroic father recalled the harrowing scene that lay behind the door.

'There were several bodies all around. Alive but burnt.
Some conscious, others not'.

Working with another man,
Mr Campolo managed to pull open the other door,
behind which he could see
'hands and faces',
and several people immediately spilled out.

'I didn't think about the pain, the smoke, the danger.
I pulled kids out with my bare hands.
One after the other.
They were alive but injured, many of them seriously'."

View attachment 634670

I assume because of the smile on his face in his hospital bed photo, that his daughter and her friend made it out safely, but did the article ever say? (I can't access DM links atm.)

 

[Herat]

There are numerous reports that they also openly served teens of age 13-15, which would be completely in violation of Swiss alcohol purchase laws.

 

[sunspun]

Well, the wife got burned, too.

You mean the co-owner of the place was there that night? I didn't realize that. Don't they live in France? I guess that's not very far, but I had not heard either of them were there. Was she badly injured?

 

[mickey2942]

It is interesting in this day of constant technology, that we actually have videos of them fixing up their club themselves to save money. Those same videos can be used against them.

"Saving Money"? As in, using cheaper materials, and DIY...

Pictures show how Swiss ski bar owners renovated club themselves

Photos have also emerged on social media showing French couple Jacques Moretti, 49, and his wife Jessica, 40, during renovation works at the bar before it opened in 2015.

www.dailymail.co.uk

I wonder how many other clubs used those types of sparklers, and have stopped using them now...

 

[katydid23]

I saw a tweet that I can't find now---it said the foam on the ceiling, which caught fire quickly, was the same type as was used in the Hong Kong massive fires on the apartment tower.

Has anyone heard that anywhere?

 

[Charlot123]

Another photo, which is being labelled as showing the moment the ceiling ignited, also shows 4 parallel small metal pipes.

There are no fire suppression nozzles visible. There are two items attached to the pipes, one of which looks like a mount for a light. One of the pipes is copper. This suggests to me that it is a hot water line to the bar, and at least one other parallel pipe would be the cold water for the bar, but none of these are mounted like a fire sprinkler system.

View attachment 634862

The large air handling duct also probably funneled the toxic chemical fumes and flames from the burning polyurethane directly up to the terrace level, so patrons not in the basement would still be instantly exposed to high temperature flaming chemicals.

This is the owners’ own personal idiocy, sorry.

They probably take specific care of the kitchen where fires are expected to start. And I bet the fire inspection first goes to the kitchen to look for potential fire hazard.

And then - we have this... Which of the two, the husband or the wife, thought it was a good idea to put sparklers on the bottles of champagne?

They let in 16-year-olds. I read an interview with a 15-year-old, which is below drinking level. It is not illegal to serve 16-year-olds beer or wine (I guess, champagne is wine) in Switzerland. But I guess many other venues tried to cater to more adult people. This “lounge” specialized on younger group. Did they expect that no one would turn in without these sparklers?

 

[Sjöberg]

I think they are probably water lines, but for the bar use, not for fire suppression.

probably water lines for either the kitchen or some kind of water source heat pump.

Yes, I share this feeling: water lines for either respective use (kitchen, toliet) or for heating (heating pump, radiators).

Serving drinks to -16-year-olds is.

In 2005 Switzerland introduced a ban on alcohol sales to anyone under the age of 16. The Alcohol Law passed in 1980 requires a minimum age of 18 years for the retail sale of distilled spirits. Therefore, it is allowed to sell fermented alcohol (e.g. beer, wine, sparkling wine or cider) to anyone from the age of 16, and distilled alcohol beverages to anyone from the age of 18 years.

Switzerland:
Minimum drinking age, in private: none
Minimum drinking age, in public: none
Minimum age for purchasing alcohol: 16 (fermented beverages with up to 15% ABV and natural wines with up to 18% ABV) and 18 (spirits).

 

[mickey2942]

I just went to a website that sells these types of "Bottle Sparklers", and it says nothing about using them outside only. It says, "Follow the laws and fire Marshall codes in your area".

Neat side step from liability.

 

[Sjöberg]

You mean the co-owner of the place was there that night? I didn't realize that. Don't they live in France? I guess that's not very far, but I had not heard either of them were there. Was she badly injured?

Many people live in France and work or go to uni in Switzerland (Genf and Lausanne are famous for it), so I think that's possible. For the location, daily travel seems unlikely, but regular travel (shift/periodic/occasional work) is possible. Picked a random closest bigger town for general visual reference.

 

[detective.moon]

The burned people need to get the best settlements ever

rsbm

reading about the victims backgrounds i get the idea that money is the one thing they and their families don’t have to worry too much about! for now that probably doesn’t bring much comfort though

 

[Warwick1991]

While the use of sparklers indoors is negligent and thoughtless, construction materials and sprinklers might have saved the occupants. It seems as if this tragedy was totally avoidable.

The problem with foam and plastics in construction is flammability. Plastic is a petroleum derivative. Most have a rapid flame spread and emit toxic fumes. In the US, building codes prohibit exposed foam due to the immense risk. If foam is incorporated into a wall or roof, it is generally supposed to be covered with another product that is fire rated.

Wood is another risk, and it looks like there are wood planks on the walls. In a public setting, codes can require fire retardant treatment for interior wood panels.

It sounds like this nightclub had exposed flammable materials at the ceiling level, and based on photos in this thread, on the walls also. This is reminiscent of the foam-fueled Station night club fire in Rhode Island in 2003. The Station was also a wood frame building, with no fire sprinklers.

In the US, a remodeling would trigger the installation of fire protection measures. I am not sure what applied in this part of Switzerland.

 

[Charlot123]

I saw a tweet that I can't find now---it said the foam on the ceiling, which caught fire quickly, was the same type as was used in the Hong Kong massive fires on the apartment tower.

Has anyone heard that anywhere?

Technically no, but yes. We are talking about flammable long fibers in each case.

The moment I saw the pitted foam insulation, I had a flashback. I used such a thing, only it was white. Eons ago, in a country house, in the lower bathroom instead of the bathroom rug. It is thick and convenient to step on when your feet are wet, but no one ever claimed it to be fireproof. Never ever.

Now, in the Wang F uk court fire, several things were in play.

- bamboo scaffolding.

Bamboo is very flammable. Think, cellulose or paper. It has to be specially treated to become flame-retardant but perhaps it was not the case.

Flammability - Bamboo Sourcery Nursery & Gardens

bamboosourcery.com

This being said, bamboo, rayon, viscose or polyurethane are somewhat similar in being constructed of long fibers along which fire can spread. Which we saw in Hong Kong and Crans-Montana.

The fire in Hong Kong probably started from a cigarette butt dropped on the rubber caught by the safety net made from equally flammable material. It exists in flame-retardant form but costs more.

Also, the glass windows during the reconstruction were covered by the Styrofoam, another flammable plastic material.

I am reposting my own article about “how it began”. When in the middle of the XIX century, silk industry in France was threatened by the disease affecting silk worms, Count de Chardonnay and Louis Pasteur created first man-made rayon that was very flammable (the photo shows its long fibers). Nowadays, years of experimentation have made it less so but it is by no means flame-retardant.

Rayon – The Silky Science Experiment

Rayon began its life as the first manmade fiber, but lives on today in form of Hawaiian shirts, souvenir jackets, and many other garments

www.heddels.com

 

[Warwick1991]

Technically no, but yes. We are talking about flammable long fibers in each case.

The moment I saw the pitted foam insulation, I had a flashback. I used such a thing, only it was white. Eons ago, in a country house, in the lower bathroom instead of the bathroom rug. It is thick and convenient to step on when your feet are wet, but no one ever claimed it to be fireproof. Never ever.

Now, in the Wang F uk court fire, several things were in play.

- bamboo scaffolding.

Bamboo is very flammable. Think, cellulose or paper. It has to be specially treated to become flame-retardant but perhaps it was not the case.

Flammability - Bamboo Sourcery Nursery & Gardens

bamboosourcery.com

This being said, bamboo, rayon, viscose or polyurethane are somewhat similar in being constructed of long fibers along which fire can spread. Which we saw in Hong Kong and Crans-Montana.

The fire in Hong Kong probably started from a cigarette butt dropped on the rubber caught by the safety net made from equally flammable material. It exists in flame-retardant form but costs more.

Also, the glass windows during the reconstruction were covered by the Styrofoam, another flammable plastic material.

I am reposting my own article about “how it began”. When in the middle of the XIX century, silk industry in France was threatened by the disease affecting silk worms, Count de Chardonnay and Louis Pasteur created first man-made rayon that was very flammable (the photo shows its long fibers). Nowadays, years of experimentation have made it less so but it is by no means flame-retardant.

Rayon – The Silky Science Experiment

Rayon began its life as the first manmade fiber, but lives on today in form of Hawaiian shirts, souvenir jackets, and many other garments

www.heddels.com

Long fiber plastics are quite different from foam. Long-fiber-reinforced thermoplastic - Wikipedia

Foam is not made from long fibers, but from polymers. In the case of the 2003 Station night club fire, the flammable plastic on the ceiling and walls was foam. Sound insulation products can incorporate foam, but it is covered with another product for fire protection. The fire in Switzerland appeared to have a ceiling that ignited almost instantly, which suggest foam instead of a reinforced long fiber plastic.

 

[Charlot123]

You mean the co-owner of the place was there that night? I didn't realize that. Don't they live in France? I guess that's not very far, but I had not heard either of them were there. Was she badly injured?

The Morettis are Corsicans. Corsica is part of France (remember Napoleon?). So yes, they are French citizens but live in Crans-Montana.

No, not badly, but she had burned arms. And saw it…

Nothing is too far from Switzerland. Germany, France and Italy instantly come to mind, but there is more.

 

[Charlot123]

Long fiber plastics are quite different from foam. Long-fiber-reinforced thermoplastic - Wikipedia

Foam is not made from long fibers, but from polymers. In the case of the 2003 Station night club fire, the flammable plastic on the ceiling and walls was foam. Sound insulation products can incorporate foam, but it is covered with another product for fire protection. The fire in Switzerland appeared to have a ceiling that ignited almost instantly, which suggest foam instead of a reinforced long fiber plastic.

Yes. Is Styrofoam similar? It looks like “pockets” under the microscope.

From my memory of “that bathroom foam”, it was cushy, squishy (I understand why it is used for sound insulation), but surprisingly, it poorly absorbed water. For my purpose, it was OK (no wet floor in the bathroom). If you splash water on it, most stays on the surface. Am I right?

If I am right, then there may be one more negative quality of it; when burning, material that poorly absorbs water is not good. Imagine something burning inside but water stays on the surface.

 

[Parsnip]

Earlier, there were claims that there was an emergency exit in the basement.

Has anyone been able to locate it? The bar occupied the basement and a ground-level terrace of a 7 story-condo building. It was on a slope, so there was an entrance from the upper road to Le Constitution visible on the Google earth maps. This one has a parking lot in front of it. From the grade it would appear this entrance probably had a staircase down to the terrace level and did not open directly into the bar. The exterior of the building confirms this, as there is a concrete stairway between the building and the one next to it. The exterior concrete stairway extends from that street level to the terrace level, below. It is possible there is an exit from the basement that could open onto the stairway, but it would also have had to have a staircase to the external door.

I looked through as many photos as I could find, and the only clearly marked exit from the basement bar/lounge was via the stair. There may have been an emergency exit on the ground floor, but I did not scour photos of that floor.

 

[Charlot123]

rsbm

reading about the victims backgrounds i get the idea that money is the one thing they and their families don’t have to worry too much about! for now that probably doesn’t bring much comfort though

We don’t know, really. The (sadly, he perished) Italian boy’s family had a winter house in Crans-Montana. He reserved the table for his friends.

But then, there was a girl (from Britain, I think) who was babysitting there and she can’t be found, either.

We don’t know about the waiters.

But mostly, the survivors’ lives will be changed. Forever. And they may need money.

 

[Charlot123]

Earlier, there were claims that there was an emergency exit in the basement.

Has anyone been able to locate it? The bar occupied the basement and a ground-level terrace of a 7 story-condo building. It was on a slope, so there was an entrance from the upper road to Le Constitution visible on the Google earth maps. This one has a parking lot in front of it. From the grade it would appear this entrance probably had a staircase down to the terrace level and did not open directly into the bar. The exterior of the building confirms this, as there is a concrete stairway between the building and the one next to it. The exterior concrete stairway extends from that street level to the terrace level, below. It is possible there is an exit from the basement that could open onto the stairway, but it would also have had to have a staircase to the external door.

The article about the Italian father who opened the side door there is a draft. Saying no exit from the basement.

Hero banker 'saved ten youngsters' from Swiss ski resort blaze

Paolo Campolo, 55, prized open an emergency door on the side of the Le Constellation club as it filled with smoke and flames, allowing struggling revelers to escape.

www.dailymail.co.uk