Early lessons from the Swiss New Year’s celebration fire

It is the article we did not want to be writing. But today we are dissecting what is thought to have gone wrong to cause the terrible bar fire in Switzerland at the turn of the year.

Igniting in a basement bar at a ski resort, flames spread quickly leaving 40 people, many of whom were young adults or teenagers, dead and more than 100 others injured. As more information has been released in the following weeks, there are several key factors which we can discuss and hold up as a warning to businesses here in the UK.

 

The initial ignition

Basic fire safety knowledge will tell you that a fire needs three things to start: heat (the source of ignition), something that burns (fuel) and oxygen – of course present in just about any environment where there are humans.

The working theory for the bar fire is that sparklers, inserted into champagne bottles, ignited the fire when they were carried above head height and came into contact with, or close proximity to, soundproof foam padding on the ceiling.

It sounds like the fire spread at ceiling level quickly, possibly igniting smoke and gases up there and called a flashover fire. These are extremely hot and rapid and therefore dangerous, leaving virtually no time to escape once going.

A simple fire risk assessment should be able to identify when and how an ignition could happen, and lead a business owner to take appropriate action. Fire risk assessments should be regularly reviewed and kept up to date.

 

Evacuation routes and plans

Newspaper reports suggest that there were two routes out of the basement bar: a narrow staircase to ground level and then safety, and an exit door at basement level (possibly marked as an emergency exit).

Both these evacuation routes failed, and in horrendous circumstances. The direct door to the outside at basement level appears to have been locked from the inside, meaning it was completely out of action. Bodies were found behind this door.

Reports also suggest that when the current owners acquired the property approximately ten years ago, they conducted DIY renovations which included narrowing the staircase from three metres wide to just one metre. Currently, it is unclear if they had planning permission for this.

As you would imagine this drastically reduces the flow of people that could evacuate, and indeed at some point this staircase then collapsed, presumably leaving those still inside with no hope of escape. Authorities later found 34 dead bodies at the foot of these stairs.

Well thought through and signposted evacuation routes are mandatory for workplaces, and care must be taken to ensure they are not obstructed. A locked fire escape is inexcusable but other lesser things could make it difficult for people to escape too, say a car or pile of rubbish obstructing an external exit, or furniture blocking the way inside.

 

Regulatory oversight

It seems that the venue had undergone no fire safety checks by authorities for five years. It remains to be seen what impact this had as events unfolded, but at this stage it appears another missed opportunity to have made the venue safe.

Fire safety regulations are there to keep everyone safe, and engaging with appropriate authorities and other expert consultancies will help you follow best practices. You don’t know what you don’t know, so talking to specialists and getting trained up can help you make informed, compliant decisions.

 

Multiple points of failure

Confirmation of all the facts will come in time as investigations and prosecutions unfold, and the general understanding of events may change as evidence and testimony come to light. However, many things appear to have gone wrong to get to the stage where 40 people have lost their lives and 116 others have been injured.

We have had our own disasters in the UK too. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order covers general fire safety in England and Wales. There are separate requirements in Scotland. If you would like a review of fire safety arrangements in your workplace, please contact us. Our experts can help you with everything from fire risk assessments to training and more.