Relatives of fire victims are demanding answers
Keystone / Valentin Flauraud
The council of the Swiss town of Crans-Montana was aware of fire safety inspection deficiencies before the devastating bar fire on January 1, according to documents seen by Swiss public broadcaster RTS.
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An internal investigation in 2023 discovered procedural faults that were published in a damning document on August 31, which was not made public and has may not have been seen by prosecutors investigating the fire that claimed 41 lives.
According to RTS, the document is neither in the files of the Valais public prosecutor’s office, nor have the victims’ lawyers been granted access to it. Only the seven members of the municipal executive and department heads are aware of it. In August 2023, president Nicolas Féraud and vice-president Nicole Clivaz were in office.
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The audit shows that the members of the municipal executive were aware of administrative malfunctions in 2023.
It uncovers problems in personnel management, mentioning “unaddressed or ignored disciplinary cases” as well as “refusals to carry out tasks” by certain employees. The recruitment process is also criticised for placing too great a focus on candidates’ personal and political connections ahead of their competences.
The audit recommended to “Support department heads in personnel management with a neutral HR consultancy (…), without political or historical influence.” It is also suggested “to bring order to disciplinary cases.” Another criticism was: “The job descriptions are not up-to-date or do not reflect the reality on the ground.”
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The audit also points to a lack of resources: “The resources, personnel, and available time are inadequate given the expected tasks (of the department heads) (…). This situation creates an overload of work in certain departments (…) and delays in meeting deadlines.”
Lack of resources
This issue directly concerns the authority responsible for fire safety inspections. This same authority failed to conduct the mandatory annual inspections at the Le Constellation bar, which constitutes a violation of canton Valais legislation. The bar’s last inspection dates back to 2019.
A lack of resources is surprising for a municipality like Crans-Montana, given that its municipal budget shows assets of nearly CHF155 million.
The audit report was submitted to the Crans-Montana municipal administration on October 31, 2023. According to several anonymous sources, the municipality has only implemented the proposed corrective measures to a very limited extent, particularly within the public safety department, which is responsible for fire safety inspections.
In response to an inquiry from RTS, the municipality stated: “The municipality of Crans-Montana does not comment on matters related to the ongoing proceedings. Therefore, no interviews will be granted at this time. The municipality of Crans-Montana is cooperating with the judicial authorities.”
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Adapted from German by AI/mga
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