Another version of the same story
Two witnesses have told CNN affiliate BFMTV that the deadly fire in Crans-Montana was caused by sparklers placed in champagne bottles.
“There were waitresses carrying champagne bottles with sparklers on them, and they carried them close to the ceiling, which caused it to catch fire,” one witness said.
“One waitress was standing on another waiter’s shoulders, and the bottle and the flames were just a few centimeters away from the ceiling,” the other added.
22 of the most seriously injured victims were transferred to the specialist burns unit in Lausanne. All aged between 16 and 26 who will face a long road to recovery.
Basic fire preventative measure , fire retardant ceilings came common practice 50 years ago…But yes the Swiss are the best at everything apparently…
Most likely a very badly maintained bar as far as safety measures are concerned.
True but a building used to house people for commercial persons must have an annual fire certificate surely if not big questions need to be answered or …EDITED
Mod note: Sorry, that was defamation of a public official. Had to edit it. If some shaddy stuff is unconvered during the investigation, please share it then.
An educated guess from a fire investigator interviewed by 20min. From pics in social media and the video, it seems the noise insulation foam in the ceiling is the material burning quickly . The guess from the expert is the fire spreading to the whole roof in 60 to 90 secs.
Acoustic tiles should be non-flammable.
In local restaurants we often see birthday cakes served with sparklers and mini-volcanoes. I suspect this will end. A terrible price for common sense.
Same as the Station Fire then.
The video footage looks similar, too.
It’s always the same.
20m has some pretty grim eye witness reports.
You see this practice everywhere with little or no consequences as buildings for public use Especially hotels/bars /restaurants with culinary facilities have fireproof construction standards and fire safety certificates issued with regular inspections by competent authorities…
I read that they need urgent blood donations (can be anywhere in Switzerland): Prognostizierter Blutvorrat | Interregionale Blutspende SRK
My heart goes out to all those affected 
How to make a blood donation in Zurich? The closest available option is 4900 Langenthal and it’s closed today.
Can’t being a UK national who lived in the UK between 1980 and 1996.
Same. I can’t donate blood in CH as I lived in UK and UK won’t let me give blood because I’ve had a transfusion myself 
Same, I’d be there in a heartbeat if I could but they don’t want me.
In the photo, the sparkers are all attached to the bottles (and not in the bottles as was reported by some sources).
The bottles appear to be unopened which suggests they were sold like that, as you are normally not allowed to bring your own drinks to a bar.
Edit - an article in The Times confirmed that this practice was one of the bar’s usual practices:
A promotional video for the bar shows waitresses passing around champagne bottles with lit sparklers in them at a previous event.
In a related event - New Year’s Eve/Fireworks, Amsterdam’s historic Vondelkerk church was also destroyed by fire.
Tragically, these “regular inspections for fire safety” are not homogeneous across all Swiss cantons.
I don’t fully agree with the journalist because he did not stop at making the good questions, he jumped to the conclusions. Anyway, a good question is good question: was this night club subject to periodic fire safety inspections or did the operation permit was obtained through the self-reporting of fire safety measures allowed in the cantonal laws? So far, this question has not been answered by the authorities, thus Mr. Journalist screws up the good question by jumping to conclusions.
The other fact is that some cantons have a centralized cantonal fire office. Meanwhile, the law in Valais say that fire safety is a municipal issue, and the cantonal fire office only oversees high risk cases. But, it seems the question itself (what is a high risk case?) leaves the door open to interpretation, politics and misunderstandings.
It will be a sad sight to see how municipal and cantonal authorities point fingers at each other in the following weeks. I hope journalists and federal authorities don’t let them escape via the “act of God” or “unforeseeable consequences” route.
It was deconsecrated fifty years ago
Another perspective, Switzerland is a country of tenants. The responsibility of fire prevention is shared between owners and tenants.
For example in an apartment building, owners are responsible for structural issues: construction materials, emergency exits, emergency lightning, fire alarms. I live in a 16 apartment building with underground parking. Our only emergency exit are the stairs, thus there are emergency lights independent of electricity supply and a indication that tenants must leave the stairs free (no shoe racks). The underground parking is also a fire risk, thus there is a CO2 and smoke alarm so we can evacuate if a car goes on fire. As tenants we are responsible of how the apartments and parking are used: not storing fuel in parking+cellar+apartment, no blocking the stairs with stuff that may block an evacuation, being careful with open flames, etc.
No idea about the ownership of the building that went on fire, but if it’s a rental property…a lot of questions will come up. Considering it’s one of the places on this planet with the highest price per square meter, I doubt a restaurant/club owner could own the property.
