2026 is off to a roaring start...

[KLin]

At least 40 dead after fire sweeps through Swiss ski resort bar

Around 100 people were also injured in the fire that broke out during New Year's celebrations in the municipality of Crans-Montana, authorities said.

www.nbcnews.com

😲

 

[Brainonska511]

I posted about this in P&N - reading the initial articles remind me heavily of The Station in Warwick, RI, which killed 100 people - a fire starting and quickly spreading combined with too few exits. Absolutely awful.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Wow what a tragedy. The thought of being stuck in a big crowd and not being able to exit is horrifying.

 

[KLin]

Switzerland ski fire latest: Teenagers as young as 16 among dozens missing after deadly fire

Police are working to identify the bodies of those who died at Le Constellation bar, but warn it could take days or even weeks.

www.bbc.com

Yikes

 

[Brainonska511]

Switzerland resort fire ‘likely started by sparklers in champagne bottles’, says attorney general – live updates

Officials say 40 people were killed and 119 injured, with some in hospital still unidentified due to ‘horrific’ injuries

www.theguardian.com

They have a video of someone trying to put out the fire on the ceiling.

Valais attorney general Beatrice Pilloud says the fire appears to have started from “sparklers put on bottles of champagne that was moved too close to the ceiling”.

Pilloud says the investigation is looking at the acoustic foam pictured on the ceiling of the basement venue to see whether it complied with regulations or was the source of the fire.

Every new detail makes it sound more and more like The Station 🙁

 

[William Gaatjes]

We in the Netherlands got idiots shooting each other by aiming fireworks at each other. Yay, great advertisement . 🙄

And the Vondelkerk caught fire and burned down.

 

[Brainonska511]

We in the Netherlands got idiots shooting each other by aiming fireworks at each other

America certainly doesn't have a monopoly on idiocracy.

 

[William Gaatjes]

America certainly doesn't have a monopoly on idiocracy.

While watching the videorecordings, i have to agree fully.

It is terrible what happened in Switzerland. I read that there also fireworks were used but inside the cafe /bar ?

 

[Brainonska511]

It is terrible what happened in Switzerland. I read that there also fireworks were used but inside the cafe /bar ?

From the initial reporting, it sounds like sparklers - like large-sized sparkling candles, so not quite fireworks, but something that could be an ignition source, especially if the acoustic foam on the ceiling wasn't properly rated (for example, if they had put up polyurethane foam instead of some more appropriate material, since polyurethane is highly flammable).

 

[William Gaatjes]

From the initial reporting, it sounds like sparklers - like large-sized sparkling candles, so not quite fireworks, but something that could be an ignition source, especially if the acoustic foam on the ceiling wasn't properly rated (for example, if they had put up polyurethane foam instead of some more appropriate material, since polyurethane is highly flammable).

That kind of reminds of the Volendam fire. Three bars in a single building in Volendam in the Netherlands caught fire new years eve 2000/2001.
Also sparklers that ignited Christmas decorations. A lot of young people got burned and remain scarred for life and 14 persons died.

Volendam New Year's fire - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Charmonium]

Some kids in NJ (probably virgins - how appropriate) were burned in a celebratory bonfire. I've been to a few bonfires and they are indeed quite grand. But for really huge ones, it's very, very unpleasant to get much closer that maybe 20-30 feet. So how this happened, I have no idea.

Didn't read the article but if you're curious . . .

7 juveniles burned in New Year’s Eve fire pit accident in N.J.

Berkeley Township authorities were called about 10 p.m. to a residence on North Trenton Avenue for a report of a fire with multiple burn victims.

www.nj.com