Fire at Swiss ski resort bar

[Raymond Lin]

A chip pan fire is scary, but it's relatively contained and tends not to spread that fast. It's also one of the reasons we have rules about how low above a hob you can put things like cupboard, that 60cm or so works very well in reducing the speed at which anything above the hob will catch in the event of a pan fire, as it allows some room for the heat to dissipate before hitting a potentially vulnerable item, and even then normally all that is above it is a metal extractor.


The reason the sort of ceiling tiles that seem to have been in use at the venue have been IIRC banned for decades in many places is because once one catches, it spreads very quickly, both because they're flamable and because the heat can't go anywhere but to the surrounding tiles.
These sorts of fires can spread beyond "easy control" or even "time to get a fire extinguisher and reach it" for even very aware staff who notice and act immediately, before they can reach it.

The whole thing is still fresh in my head over 2 decades later. I remember the surprise when the fire burst through the wet towel. I remember my housemate shouting "GET OUT RAYMOND" when i was trying to put it out. I remember her saying "Why doesn't the phone work?" (Because I was using dial up internet). I remember picking up the pan and put it in the middle of the floor in the kitchen so it is away from the heat source, it being an electric cooker and didn't want the fire from the pan keep burning the extractor fan. I remember one of the fire extinguishers was empty because in the previous year one of the lads used it in a "water fight". I remember the smoke getting everywhere that isn't sealed tight, even an opened, but rolled up bag of cereal in the box had to be thrown away. I remember the oil splatter made holes in my jeans and left a mild scar on my ring finger for a few years. I remember the intense heat, it melted the blinds in the window in the adjacent wall.

 

[Hagar]

The whole thing is still fresh in my head over 2 decades later. I remember the surprise when the fire burst through the wet towel. I remember my housemate shouting "GET OUT RAYMOND" when i was trying to put it out. I remember her saying "Why doesn't the landline work?" (Because I was using dial up internet). I remember picking up the pan and put it in the middle of the floor in the kitchen. I remember one of the fire extinguisher was empty because in the previous year one of the lads used it in a "water fight". I remember the smoke getting everywhere that isn't sealed tight, even an opened, but rolled up bag of cereal in the box had to be thrown away. I remember the oil splatter made holes in my jeans and left a mild scar on my ring finger for a few years. I remember the intense heat, it melted the blinds in the window in the adjacent wall.

I remember a similar occurrence about fifty years ago. A damp (not wet) towel burned through. The cooker was next to the back door. I opened it and placed the burning pan in the yard. I suffered some splatter on my forearms luckily light which i plunged under the tap as soon as possible, yes it also melted the blind on the kitchen window and blackened the ceiling.

 

[SexyGreyFox]

Just seen the new vids of the blaze starting. Sparklers on top of champaign bottles held high, acoustic foam on the ceiling. Goes up rapidly.
Everyone then just stands and watches it burn, some even filming it on their phones whilst dancing and cheering.
Utter stupidity.
Only one person attempts to put it out by wafting it with a towel or something. Nobody makes any other effort. They all just...watch.

It was around 10 years ago (or way more) at The Box in Crewe, a KISS tribute band were playing and their Ace Frehley fired a rocket/firework from the end of his guitar straight into the ceiling where it caught on netting and a fire started.
At that point I've got all my mates out thinking of the Great White concert in 2003 that killed 100 people.
I got a few more out who realised they were silly watching it and the band had disappeared off the stage and followed me down the stairs.
As luck had it my mate who owned the place had given his staff fire training and they rushed the stage with equipment.
I couldn't believe the stupidity of people just standing there and filming it.

 

[ColdAsIce]

Did no-one else have the fire blanket in their kichens back in the 90s? those were for chip pans.

 

[malachi]

2026 and already the lack of respect of some posting is following the 2025 trend.

Change of year doesn't mean change of peoples attitudes on the Internet.

 

[radderfire]

This is a horrific tragedy and the people killed and injured have been badly let down by the bar owners who should have known better in terms of fire safety, particularly if you are allowing lit fireworks inside.

 

[Malevolence]

Did no-one else have the fire blanket in their kichens back in the 90s? those were for chip pans.

I grew up in the 70s/80s. We had tea towels, a kitchen sink and a back door.

 

[Minusorange]

some even filming it on their phones whilst dancing and cheering.

Just channeling their inner Ralph

 

[Darkpilgrim]

RIP to those that have lost their lives. Sad news.

 

[arknor]

It's crazy that the ceiling seems to be coated in sound absorbing foam thats not fire retardant at all

also the musics still playing and there seems to be 0 alarms.

 

[Shadowness]

What’s more crazy is while the ceiling is on fire, many people are still dancing about and filming it on their phones. Common sense people?!

 

[the shadow]

What’s more crazy is while the ceiling is on fire, many people are still dancing about and filming it on their phones. Common sense people?!

Probably chanting the roof is on fire

 

[ChroniC]

I think some people want to win the Darwin Awards.

 

[Nitefly]

I mean ‘tbf’ they are probably all drunk as skunks - I wouldn’t want to be challenged to fight for survival when I’m ****faced. I’ve been defeated by my own front door.

 

[Moothead2]

What’s more crazy is while the ceiling is on fire, many people are still dancing about and filming it on their phones. Common sense people?!

Probably a combination of being hammered and thinking you're never going to be a news story. It's easy to forget most tragedies are just people like you and me being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

 

[Mr Jack]

If they weren't inside, I strongly suspect the bar owners will go to jail for putting that stuff on the ceiling.

 

[Werewolf]

Probably a combination of being hammered and thinking you're never going to be a news story. It's easy to forget most tragedies are just people like you and me being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Yup

Also if someone doesn't see other people panicking or getting out they tend to think things aren't too bad, which is similar to the "bystander effect" where people assume someone else is dealing with a problem/doing something, and won't act themselves unless they see someone else doing something. People in a crowd act weirdly, often to their own detriment when things are going wrong, partly because despite all the warnings we have individually, and what we'd do on our own, if you're in a group you tend to take a lot more cues from those around you and you are less likely to be the first person to do something as you don't want to stand out or look silly if you're wrong.
IIRC there are entire areas of psychology that specialise in crowd behaviour and modern designs for high capacity buildings often have to refer to research and modelling on crowds because in an emergency you'll often have people doing things like all trying to get out of one or two exits even if there are others available and the ones they're going to are not the closest, or not the safest to use but they're the ones they came in through or remember most clearly. I seem to remember reading or watching something a while back where it was pointed out that in some cases making an exit slow people down actually speeds up the evacuation as a whole, and decreases casualties (people are less likely to jam the exit and cause crush injuries if they are slowed down slightly before hitting it).

I think Terry Pratchett's comment about mobs applies fairly well "The IQ of a mob is the IQ of its most stupid member divided by the number of mobsters", except this applies to crowds as well.

I remember being in B&Q a few years back when the fire alarm went off, there were people just standing around/waiting with their trolleys even once it started with the recorded message "Fire alarm, exit the building", and I'll admit I didn't start moving until I heard that. My first thought was it was some sort of anti theft alarm as it wasn't the traditional bell but a siren that sounded very similar to ones I've heard in some retailers when locked cabinets are opened, or someone has tried to nick a display tool.

 

[dave28]

I would guess bits of the ceiling started to fall down into what looks like a bar area and that began a chain reaction of explosions that blocked their escape route. They probably would have easily escaped if not for that.

 

[Shadowness]

Probably a combination of being hammered and thinking you're never going to be a news story. It's easy to forget most tragedies are just people like you and me being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

This might sound like ‘with hindsight’, but I can guarantee you that if a building is THAT much on fire, I’m getting out of there, not filming it to put on TikTok!

 

[Emlyn_Dewar]

Fireworks on alcoholic drinks, in a bar with a low roof... Maybe it looks good in an Instagram photo, but it's all undone when people burn to death in a panicked crush.
Hopefully the rest of world takes some lessons from this.