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

[Warwick1991]

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.

There are several types of foam, including extruded, closed cell and open cell. The closed cell and extruded foams are usually water resistant or water proof, and the open cell allows water to pass through.

Styrofoam is closed cell and extruded, and is waterproof. It is stronger than other foams.

Styrofoam - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

We don't know what was used on the nightclub ceiling in Crans-Montana.

Open vs. Closed Cell Foam: Understanding Permeability

Open and closed cell foam are suitable barriers, but differ in structure and permeability. Read more to find out which foam is best for your project.

blog.polytechinc.com

 

[Chimera]

Emergency exit 'always locked', bartender claims amid Swiss fire probe

Le Constellation in the Alpine resort was branded a 'deathtrap' after it emerged that partygoers squeezed up a narrow staircase to escape the flames and toxic smoke in the basement.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Andrea, 31, a bartender who works elsewhere in the resort but was a regular at Le Constellation, told German newspaper Bild: 'There was an entrance that also served as an exit. And there was an emergency exit. But whenever I was there, it was always locked.

'Everyone in town knew things were bound to go wrong eventually.

'The emergency exit was in a separate smoking room. Hardly anyone used it; most went up to the conservatory. The smoking room was used as a kind of storage room. There was a sofa inside in front of the door, and carelessly discarded objects lay outside.'
Rbm.
This may mean locals knew it was a fire trap.
But maybe not visitors to the bar ?

Those young people didn't stand a chance if trouble broke out.
Smh over and over.
Omo.

 

[djanga]

.

 

[airportwoman]

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?

I read that too, only it wasn't the Hong Kong fire, but the Grenfell Towers fire.

 

[katydid23]

I read that too, only it wasn't the Hong Kong fire, but the Grenfell Towers fire.

Ok, thank you.

Since then I found out that the real similarity between the Swiss fire and the Hong Kong fire was the use of styrofoam that both builders used on the ceilings.

 

[Kemug]

To tell the truth
I'm so paranoid about fires,n
that I forbade to light candles at home.
HA!
I don't get why people use aromatic candles at home - they inhale toxic fumes and there is always a risk of fire.
Aaaaargh

This tragedy is absolutely horrific!!!

I had an ancestor (tress) who left a candle burning in the baby's room. Too close to the curtains of an open window. Result - one dead baby, and a mother scarred horrifically for the rest of her life. So sad.

 

[Charlot123]

There are several types of foam, including extruded, closed cell and open cell. The closed cell and extruded foams are usually water resistant or water proof, and the open cell allows water to pass through.

Styrofoam is closed cell and extruded, and is waterproof. It is stronger than other foams.

Styrofoam - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

We don't know what was used on the nightclub ceiling in Crans-Montana.

Open vs. Closed Cell Foam: Understanding Permeability

Open and closed cell foam are suitable barriers, but differ in structure and permeability. Read more to find out which foam is best for your project.

blog.polytechinc.com

So…when styrofoam burn, does it melt, too?

This is what was used to cover the windows in Hong Kong fire.

What is interesting to know is how these materials behave during the fire. We know that fire spreads along them.

Someone used the term, “napalm”. Do they melt?

But speaking about sprinklers and water hoses. Is that possible that water is not efficient enough to extinguish fire when they burn? Or does it make no difference?

In other words, the fact that the material is not only “flammable” but “in natural state, water-resistant” make them even more hazardous when on fire?

 

[Charlot123]

I had an ancestor (tress) who left a candle burning in the baby's room. Too close to the curtains of an open window. Result - one dead baby, and a mother scarred horrifically for the rest of her life. So sad.

Sad and very scary. Well, fires always existed and exist. Hence, the building codes.

But there are additional behaviors. A lounge filled with young people at least four times over stated capacity. No second exit that would be accessible and clearly marked.

 

[Kemug]

Such young victims, many barely starting out on their life's journey. And at such a young age, as young as 15 or 16, they really can't be expected to have a lot of common sense. They still need to be protected - by their elders, and by rules and laws. Somebody failed them.

 

[Charlot123]

Such young victims, many barely starting out on their life's journey. And at such a young age, as young as 15 or 16, they really can't be expected to have a lot of common sense. They still need to be protected - by their elders, and by rules and laws. Somebody failed them.

Old reviews mention lots of drinks there. BTW, champagne itself gets to one’s head fast. But young people can mix drinks, and having once been young and coming from a drinking country, one thing I expect from young people is to actively mix drinks. They don’t know how to “drink not to get drunk”, because their goal is to get drunk and have fun! So reflexes were probably slowed - one can see it on videos, it took them a while to realize that the ceiling was on fire, too. I am so sorry for them. Scared kids in fire.

 

[Kemug]

Old reviews mention lots of drinks there. BTW, champagne itself gets to one’s head fast. But young people can mix drinks, and having once been young and coming from a drinking country, one thing I expect from young people is to actively mix drinks. They don’t know how to “drink not to get drunk”, because their goal is to get drunk and have fun! So reflexes were probably slowed - one can see it on videos, it took them a while to realize that the ceiling was on fire, too. I am so sorry for them. Scared kids in fire.

Plus just being young, and partying together leads to being "drunk" with fun and excitement. Poor kids.

 

[djanga]

The youngest person identified was a Swiss girl aged 14. It doesn’t say if she was acompanied by adults. It is really scary:

Crans-Montana: Police identify 16 more victims of Swiss bar fire - BBC News

Crans-Montana: Police identify 16 more victims of Swiss bar fire

www.bbc.co.uk

Police identify 16 more victims of Swiss bar fire​

The youngest person identified was a Swiss girl aged 14, with nine aged under 18. The group including people of Swiss, Italian, Romanian, Turkish and French nationalities, police said

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Article link deleted by me. I can't get it to post correctly.

It's unimaginable. I imagine a full investigative report will eventually be released to the public and hope the right people will be held responsible.

 

[Charlot123]

https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/various/hospitals-postpone-operations-due-to-fire-victims/90720743

Swiss hospitals postpone planned operations to treat fire victims

 

[detective.moon]

now 113 out of 119 injured people identified, 24 out of 40 who died. for the families who still don’t know it must feel like eternity.

while some of the victims were tourists, there are also schools and sports clubs in the surrounding area that had multiple students or members among the victims

this morning there was a memorial mass that hundreds of people attended

Katastrophe in Crans-Montana - Hunderte an Messe in Crans-Montana ++ 24 Todesopfer identifiziert

Während einer Silvesterparty sind in Crans-Montana über 40 junge Menschen ums Leben gekommen.

www.srf.ch

 

[djanga]

One of the victims was 16-year old Arthur Brodard, whose mother had been frantically searching for him.

A mother says goodbye to her son as Swiss community grieves after deadly fire

A Mass was held Sunday for victims of the New Year's Eve fire at a bar in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, which left 40 dead and many injured

abcnews.go.com

 

[Sjöberg]

Jacques Moretti, 49, is originally from Ghisonaccia, in High Corsica, while Jessica Moretti, around 40 years old, is originally from the Côte d'Azur and previously lived in Cannes, studying between Antibes and Monaco.
The couple was well integrated in the Swiss Alpine resort, where they resided permanently.

In addition to Le Constellation, the two restaurateurs own other establishments in the region: Le Senso, a bar-restaurant in Crans-Montana, and Le Vieux Chalet, in Lens, known for offering specialities of Corsican cuisine.

At the time of the fire, Jessica Moretti was inside the premises and was injured, suffering burns to one arm.
Her husband Jacques Moretti, however, was not present, as he was at another business run by the couple. (link)

All the locations mentioned in France are in the South-East and not feasible for regular travel to the Swiss region. For now I think they lived in Switzerland, somewhere very close to the 3 Swiss businesses they had, but probably also had real estate in France and also had French citizenships, so the reporting got messed up.

the blaze would soon engulf the crowded basement, travel up the narrow wooden stairs and set off explosions so deafening that residents feared a terror attack (link)

Do we know what was that about and where? Sounds like this might have influenced both the death count and possibly the exit aspect. Just trying to think how the logistics happened once the fire was spreading.

EDIT: at the end of this BBC 28 sec video you can see the filming person running up the stairs and arriving at the upper floor. And I found this snippet:

The managing director of the hospitals in the canton of Valais, Eric Bonvin, told the AFP news agency that patients admitted after the accident had not only suffered burns, but also broken bones. Many of the bone injuries were probably caused by the panicked rush to the exit of the bar. (link, @9.49)

 

[Yellowbelly]

Emergency exit 'always locked', bartender claims amid Swiss fire probe

Le Constellation in the Alpine resort was branded a 'deathtrap' after it emerged that partygoers squeezed up a narrow staircase to escape the flames and toxic smoke in the basement.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Andrea, 31, a bartender who works elsewhere in the resort but was a regular at Le Constellation, told German newspaper Bild: 'There was an entrance that also served as an exit. And there was an emergency exit. But whenever I was there, it was always locked.

'Everyone in town knew things were bound to go wrong eventually.

'The emergency exit was in a separate smoking room. Hardly anyone used it; most went up to the conservatory. The smoking room was used as a kind of storage room. There was a sofa inside in front of the door, and carelessly discarded objects lay outside.'
Rbm.
This may mean locals knew it was a fire trap.
But maybe not visitors to the bar ?

Those young people didn't stand a chance if trouble broke out.
Smh over and over.
Omo.

This is the only plan of the basement that I've seen that shows the location of the smoking room. I can well understand why the people in the basement would have tried to get out the way that they'd come in, rather than running to the pokey hole at the back of the room.

Being a British person of a certain age, I'm old enough to remember news reports of the Stardust fire in Dublin in 1981. 48 people died, but the death toll would have been a lot less if the emergency exits hadn't been locked.

Stardust fire - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Sor Juana]

What We Know About the New Year’s Fire in Switzerland

French news media outlets published a photograph of sparklers attached to champagne bottles, with a small fire on the ceiling, and a Swiss newspaper’s website published a video showing the fire growing in the same spot.
The Swiss authorities said that one or two explosions at the bar had probably been caused by a “flashover” — when all combustible material in a room ignites simultaneously, turning a growing fire into an inferno.

 

[djanga]

This is the only plan of the basement that I've seen that shows the location of the smoking room. I can well understand why the people in the basement would have tried to get out the way that they'd come in, rather than running to the pokey hole at the back of the room.
View attachment 634981

Being a British person of a certain age, I'm old enough to remember news reports of the Stardust fire in Dublin in 1981. 48 people died, but the death toll would have been a lot less if the emergency exits hadn't been locked.

Stardust fire - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

There was a witness who said this exit door was añways closed to prevent people from leaving without paying