Swiss Club Fire

There was a picture of a woman in a black dress waving one of those while perched on someone's shoulders.

If the sparkler is stuck in a champagne cork and you pop the cork the sparkler is likely to hit the ceiling. Or anything attached to it. Like inflammable acoustic tiles.

Cheers

Dave R

For am-dram stage scenery madeof cardboard , textiles and the like, the traditional fire-retarding measure was a mixtue of borax and boracic acid washed over the material.

I just cannot believe that someone would create a ceiling that a few sparks from a sparkler would set on fire so easy. When I think to soldering pipes adjacent to ordinary plasterboard without a heat shield and the worst that happened was a bit scorching but no fire.

Sadly I can. The evidence is certainly pointing strongly in that direction.

Tim

In message <10j906q$2hb8v$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me, at 17:45:03 on Fri, 2 Jan

Back in the day when I was helping make such scenery, we used to have long debates as to whether the process was "fire proofing" or "anti fire proofing". I was of the view the latter would be akin to painting them with phosphorous.

I remember that from over 60 years ago. I'm surprised that there isn't somthing more up to date

...Probably

-- “Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities.”

― Voltaire, Questions sur les Miracles à M. Claparede, Professeur de Théologie à Genève, par un Proposant: Ou Extrait de Diverses Lettres de M. de Voltaire

It looks very much the egg box structure was acoustic foam and it ignited before flashing over.

Another focus is on foam-like padding on the bar's ceiling and whether it was compliant with safety standards. Two fire safety experts told BBC Verify that the materials visible in photos and videos of Le Constellation appeared to show "egg box foam", a type of sound-absorbing material made from polyurethane (PU). In the photo of the bottles being held up, flames are visible on a part of the ceiling with a foam-like covering. PU foam is often treated with fire-retardant before being installed as a noise dampener in factories and entertainment venues. But untreated, it can be highly flammable. "Once ignited, polyurethane acoustic foam can exhibit rapid flame spread across its high-surface-area profile and produce dense, toxic smoke, significantly accelerating fire growth and reducing available escape time," said Dr Peter Wilkinson of Loughborough University. Professor Edwin Galea, from the University of Greenwich, said the effectiveness of retardant treatment on PU foam can wear off over time. The Swiss authorities say they cannot confirm what type of foam-padding was used in the bar and whether or not it complied with safety standards. In Friday's press conference, officials talked about a "flashover" happening in the bar. Professor Galea explained this is what happens when hot gases rise to the ceiling, reach a critical temperature and then ignite the room near instantaneously. According to Michael Klippel, a fire safety expert at ETH Zurich University, "survival after flashover is very unlikely". The authority responsible for overseeing fire safety inspections in Crans-Montana is the Office Cantonal du Feu (OCF) of the Canton of Valais. The inspections are carried out by local officials. Swiss authorities said in a press conference that inspections on a building the size of Le Constellation should have been carried out each year. BBC Verify has contacted the OCF to request access to previous inspection documents.

Well they're not like the normal sparklers that kids use to write their name in the air. I think they are what are called "Bengal Lights"; formerly used for signalling.

Still daft the have flammable soundproofing.

Then it looks a bit tatty after a while. Nothing that a lick of paint won't cure, though.

On hearing this on the news, I thought immediately of the New York Club fire that was started by a Band letting off fireworks inside. The video linked below shows the full tradegy.It sounds a very similar event,we dont know about the deaths yet, and whether crushing was the main cause in Switzerland. We were shown this on a H&S course. IIRC, many people were crushed in the panic to get out, and, if everyone had been calm,very few people would have died.The video shows the crush of people trying to get out, and just being stuck at the entrance.

I have a bit of a phobia about limited access basement venues for this very reason.

Tim