A massacre of very young people. At least 47 dead and 112 injured in fire at Le Constrellation bar in Crans-Montana in the Swiss Canton of Valais, 6 Italians are missing and 13 in hospital. A 16-year-old Italian girl is hospitalized in a coma in Zurich hospital. Two 16-year-olds and a 30-year-old woman arrived at the Niguarda in Milan in serious condition.
And meanwhile there is the first confirmed Italian victim of the New Year’s Eve tragedy in Switzerland: it was he who lost his life Emanuele Galeppini, a 16-year-old Genoese who lived in Dubai, golf promise. This was reported by the Italian Golf Federation itself, which remembers him as «a young athlete who brought with him passion and authentic values».
Many victims, among them many young people, are unrecognizable because they are disfigured by burns.
The explosion, triggered by a fire started by some candles and a firecracker, destroyed the place: the devastating fire was fueled by the phenomenon of flashoveror a rapid and violent spread of flames in closed environments.
Many young people would have been trapped in the underground bar: “The only escape route was a staircase, the door to exit was narrow”, say witnesses. The Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani he is expected in Crans-Montana on Friday. Condolences for the victims from President Mattarella and Prime Minister Meloni.
What is flashover
Also called embrasement généralisé, it is a well-defined moment in the development of a fire: the sudden transition from an initially localized fire to a generalized fire that involves the entire environment in a few moments. It is not an explosion in the technical sense, but for those who observe or experience it it may appear as a disruptive event, precisely because of the speed and violence with which the flames spread.
A rapid phenomenon linked to precise conditions
The phenomenon occurs extremely quickly and only when certain conditions occur. Very high temperatures, the presence of combustible materials and the accumulation of hot smoke and flammable gases are needed, particularly in the upper parts of the room. It is precisely this layer of smoke that often constitutes the “way” through which fire passes from a specific point to the entire environment, making the fire suddenly total.
Because it’s so dangerous
Flashover is considered particularly dangerous because it leaves very little margin for reaction. In an instant you can go from a situation that appears limited to finding yourself surrounded by flames. Precisely for this reason it is a phenomenon feared even by firefighterswho know how difficult it is to predict exactly the moment and methods of development.
The warning signs
However, there are warning signs that operators learn to recognise. The presence of a lot of smoke, high temperatures and an apparently contained fire in an environment saturated with hot gases they are indicators of a potentially critical situation. Identifying them in time is essential to adopt safety behaviors and avoid being involved in the phenomenon.
The role of oxygen
An important role can be played by oxygen. A sudden intake of fresh air – for example the opening of a door or window, or the breaking of glass – can help trigger flashover, but only if the fire is already in an unstable equilibrium phase. It is never the only determining factor, but it can represent the decisive element that accelerates the transition towards generalized fire.
The specific context of closed environments
As for the possibility that a phenomenon of this type develops in a basement or partially underground room, each case must be evaluated individually. What matters is the shape of the space, the installations present, the conditions of use and what people were doing at the time of the fire. Flashover is not a systematic event, but a concrete possibility in certain contexts, and it is precisely this unpredictability that makes it so insidious.
