Crans-Montana bar fire: a capitalist inferno

The bar fire in Crans-Montana is one of the greatest disasters in Swiss history. The entire political establishment is trying to portray the 40 deaths and 116 injuries as the result of a fateful coincidence. But the truth is that this disaster was entirely man-made. The cause lies in the short-sighted, reckless pursuit of profit that drives capitalism.

On New Year’s Eve, a fire broke out in a basement bar in the ski resort of Crans-Montana in the canton of Valais in the Swiss alps. Sparklers on champagne bottles ignited the soundproofing mats on the ceiling of the bar. The fire spread in seconds and the entire basement became an inferno.

[Originally published in German and French at kommunismus.ch and communisme.ch]

The result: 40 dead and 116 injured – more than 90 of whom are still in hospital two weeks later, making it one of the greatest disasters in Swiss history. They will be scarred for life.

This terrible suffering could have been prevented. The danger posed by the use of sparklers under the highly flammable soundproofing mats was known to the employees.

34 of the 40 victims died on the staircase, which was the only way out. The owner had narrowed it during a recent renovation. Emergency exits existed, but were either impossible to find or locked. In addition, the staff had never been trained in fire safety.

The risk of fires in nightclubs is well known. Since 2003, identical fires have claimed over 1,300 lives worldwide, and fires involving pyrotechnics and soundproofing panels make up 670 (or nearly half) of these. The problem is so commonplace that Netflix and Amazon have each recently released their own series on such cases.

What these tragedies have in common is that the pursuit for profit has led to a systematic non-compliance with safety measures. Every safety measure costs money, whether it's security personnel, training, or fireproof insulation material. Or to put it another way: guaranteeing the safety of our youth when they go out reduces the profits of capitalists – and they are unwilling to do that.

A bad apple?

The bar owners responsible – Jacques and Jessica Moretti – were recently praised in the media as up-and-coming small restaurateurs. But scratch the surface and you’ll find filthy rich and ruthless capitalists.

Jacques Moretti was a convicted pimp, literally willing to sell people as goods in the past. He came to Switzerland with so much money that he was able to buy several properties in the region without having to take out a mortgage. Now he is being defended by two specialised elite law firms.

The media are trying to portray the bar owners as merely being a couple of bad apples. In reality, they are symptomatic of capitalism’s contempt for human life. A system that functions on ruthless greed for profit produces ruthless and greedy individuals.

A system that functions on ruthless greed for profit produces ruthless and greedy individuals / Image: fair use

They are typical representatives of the powerful Swiss hotel and restaurant industry. In the ski resorts of the Alps, it is typical to milk tourists for as much as possible during the short five-month season. The staff themselves are squeezed with low wages and terrible working conditions. Failure to comply with all kinds of standards and regulations is the norm.

The responsibility of the state

Although the municipality, canton, Federal Council, and media are doing everything they can to cover it up, the extent of the deliberate failure of state authorities is now coming to light.

The municipality of Crans-Montana had not inspected the fire safety of the premises for six years. In fact, only 40 of the 128 premises due for inspection were inspected last year, even though they are required to carry them out annually. This issue is not isolated to Valais. Many other cantons are just as bad, if not worse.

And even an inspection would probably have changed little. Bar owners throughout Switzerland report having the same highly flammable acoustic panels, which had been approved during fire inspections. Such an inferno could just as easily have happened elsewhere!

Revealed here is the absolute inability of the bourgeois state to guarantee good safety standards.

It is not just bars and clubs affected by this, it applies to large parts of the economy. In scaffolding, for example, serious accidents have risen by 86 percent since 2014. In hospitals, vital safety regulations are being neglected due to staff shortages.

Now the authorities are reluctant to guarantee that the culprits will be investigated and prosecuted. Starting with the mayor of Crans-Montana, who, when confronted with questions about his municipality’s responsibility for safety inspections, replied laconically: “Who are you to ask such a thing?”

He is closely followed by the Valais public prosecutor’s office, which does not provide enough resources for such complex cases. Due to this, it has repeatedly taken too long to process the cases, allowing cases against local bosses to be dropped due to the statute of limitations.

In the healthcare system the lack of resources has even more dire consequences: it has been known for years that Switzerland's emergency system cannot handle incidents involving more than 25 people requiring hospital care. It was only because 21 European hospitals took in patients, and the enormous sacrifices of healthcare and rescue personnel, that the healthcare system did not completely collapse on 1 January.

‘National unity’ distracts from responsibility

Now the federal government – the Federal Council – is pulling out all the stops to invoke national unity through commemorative events. Federal Councilor Guy Parmelin (Swiss People’s Party, SVP) writes in his open letter to the Swiss people: “The whole of Switzerland has been turned into a united family of mourners.” But this “family” does not exist.

On the one hand, we see the sincere sympathy of the population and the working class. Their sympathy goes far beyond the empty words of politicians. During and after the fire, countless holidaymakers, residents, rescue workers, and healthcare personnel demonstrated their selfless willingness to make sacrifices.

On the other hand, there are the capitalists and governments, whose state and system bear responsibility for this tragedy. They are stirring up national unity to distract from the failure of their system.

The population’s trust in the Federal Council and Parliament has plummeted in recent years. According to a recent poll, only a third of the population is still satisfied with the work of the Federal Council. This is the consequence of years of austerity measures and shifting the burden of the crisis onto the working class. Now the Federal Council is cynically trying to exploit the enormous grief and solidarity among the population.

Currently, the shock over the tragedy in Crans-Montana is great. But this national unity will not last long. Because apart from minutes of silence and the ringing of church bells, the Federal Council has little to offer.

In the service of the capitalists, the Federal Council is forced to attack the working class more and more directly. This will break any ‘national unity’.

Capitalism cannot be regulated

All the major parties – including the Social Democratic Party (SP) – support national unity. It is a mistake for the left to support this cross-class alliance.

If Crans-Montana proves anything, it is that capitalism cannot be regulated / Image: Dodo von den Bergen, Wikimedia Commons

This depoliticises this capitalist catastrophe – precisely at a time when the ruthlessness of the entire regime is being exposed.

The mother of two seriously injured young women explains:

“At first there was bewilderment, pain, trauma, and prayers. Now there is anger and incomprehension.”

The political task is to transform this incomprehension into understanding, and to direct this anger against those who are truly responsible.

Even the SP’s only political demand – for compulsory national building insurance – is counterproductive in this situation. Insurance capitalists are among the most ruthless parasites. They are currently busy lobbying for the loosening of fire safety regulations! And whilst the Crans-Montana fire has pushed back these plans, they are still on the cards.

“We are moving away from the principle of maximizing safety,” explains a professor leading the reform. In their illusion that the contradictions of capitalism can be regulated, the reformists end up giving these cutthroats more power over our lives!

If Crans-Montana proves anything, it is that capitalism cannot be regulated. All laws – if they exist at all – can easily be disregarded and circumvented.

Only the working class can end this irrational system

Under capitalism, the working class will always be subject to the cruelty of the bosses. In the case of this bar, the employees and customers were aware of the risk posed by the flammable panels, but they were ignored. Every employee could have made dozens of suggestions for improvement. But under capitalism, no one asks them! Their skills serve only to generate profit.

The working class is the truly productive, capable force in society – it builds all the houses, all the roads, all the machines. Yet today the working class has neither the power nor the resources to implement the necessary measures to guarantee a good and secure life.

Only socialism can break with this irrationality. The capitalists must be expropriated. Worker's control over nationalised property gives the working class the power to solve such problems independently.

No one would voluntarily build a highly flammable basement and send their own children down there with burning sparklers. Only a terminally ill system could do something like that! It must be overthrown.