Just seen some video of the fireworks setting light to the ceiling and the ceiling melting and dripping as it burns.
There's this video of people trying to put it out, seems like they thought it was a laugh at first. It happened in a basement, so no windows to escape from. Video shows first moments of Swiss bar fire
My OH and I were discussing this last night, and among other fires we mentioned the Grenfell Tower, Bradford stadium, the Iraqi wedding and the Woolworths one in Manchester back in 1979. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and every one could have been avoided. "Lessons will be learned" is a phrase we hear each time, and sometimes changes are implemented. It is horrendous, I have seen a few photos and that is enough for me.
We went out today for a meal and the table next to us had ordered a posh platter that arrived with exactly those mini- firework things sending up sparks and flames. The waiter passed the platter inches above The Child's head and I felt quite unsafe with their handling of the pretty spark- and flame things. They are not just the old sparkly sticks but about finger wide mini fireworks with a real flame and sparks. On a positive note, our meal was delightful as we were offered prime seats of a very bad (presumeably) tinder date. The lady was dressed and made up very nicely but the man didn't remove his jacket and kept his cap on throughout the meal. (I told The Child that if she ever tries to date a man who wears a baseball cap while eating at the table, I'll disherit her and cut her new pyjamas into ribbons. There! ) The Swiss disaster is awful and incredibly sad, so many young people losing their lives or badly injured. The nightclub's security measures sound shabby which is surprising, as Pete says. Only one exit, no fire sprinklers, unprotected combustible ceiling material and open fires... how was that ever allowed?
Maybe fireworks need a rethink. Indoors these can never really be safe. Outdoors they cause disruption, noise and air pollution. It's all very well charging emissions tolls to drive cars into cities, but then to let off cartloads of explosives seems perverse. In this day and age, surely something cleaner and quieter could be organised. And maybe nightclubs where, by definition, lots of young people gather and drink, should not be in basements.
Trouble is the people who want fireworks want the noise - just the pretty isn't enough. In recent years the bangs have got louder but the fireworks are nothing special to look at.
That takes me back to the 1950's/60's where the coffee bars and music scene was in and around Soho in London. Some of the bars (no alcohol allowed by law) were in basements but were strictly controlled by bouncers. I don't remember any form of fireworks being allowed and can't remember any fires happening but reckon most of them would have been closed down by the current fire regulations. The '2 i's' club in Old Compton St was in the basement (although not shown like that in the film The Tommy Steele Story) and many of the famous pop stars used to perform there in their very early days. Nearly all the coffee bars were tiny and couldn't take all that many people but we were all crammed in. The small areas that these coffee bars had were epitomised by the 'Cat's Whisker' in Kingly St where it is said that the hand jive came about because there was not enough room to dance. It was very easy in those days to get to know the pop stars (don't think we used the terminology 'pop star') and I knew a lot of them. The 'Bread Basket' in Cleveland St was in the basement and quite a few future and current stars went there. For the oldies on here, I met Nancy Whiskey there (a big hit with 'Freight Train') and regularly had a light lunch (a coffee and roll) with Emile Ford but his group The Checkmates didn't go there. I remember a lot of the coffee bars and the music scene quite clearly but sometimes have trouble remembering my own name
Did anyone hear a fire alarm going off in any of the Swiss footage? There should have been a responsible, sober adult present who at the first sight of fire would have turned off the music and hit the fire alarm button.
Yes, seen an extended one where the reaction to that was to get their phones out and film all the flames whilst partying on...
We've also had a 16-year old arrested this past week or so in the UK for having explosives made from modifying fireworks. We live in a country that has a terror alert currently said to be 'Substantial' and that has seen violent, extremist events in recent months and years (as well as similarly extreme retaliation), yet seemingly anyone can walk off the street and into a shop to buy a cardboard box full of explosives...
