No one goes out for a night of fun expecting to learn a lesson in fire behaviour, or even not return home.
Yet the recent New Year’s Eve fire at a basement bar in the Swiss ski resort of Crans Montana brought some uncomfortable truths into sharp focus. Early reporting highlighted two familiar risk factors: a basement venue with limited escape options and a flammable ceiling that allowed fire and smoke to spread quickly.
These are not rare or exotic failures. They are the kind of everyday issues that sit quietly in buildings until the wrong moment arrives.
This is where a proper fire risk assessment earns its keep.
Basements feel cosy until they are not
Basements are popular for bars and venues. They feel intimate and atmospheric. From a fire safety perspective, they are also one of the least forgiving spaces to get wrong.
A competent fire risk assessment should stop and ask some very direct questions:
- How many ways out are there?
- Are those routes independent?
- Are they protected?
- What happens if smoke fills the space before people even realise there is a problem?
If escape relies on a single stairway or a single assumption that it will probably be fine, then the risk is already too high.
Fire does not wait. Smoke does not always give warnings.
The ceiling everyone forgets about
Ceilings rarely get much attention. They sit above lighting, décor and sound systems and are often treated as background.
In a fire, they are anything but.
Combustible ceiling materials and linings can significantly increase the speed of fire spread and smoke production. A small ignition can escalate rapidly if the ceiling helps the fire along. A thorough fire risk assessment looks up as well as around and questions whether materials are appropriate for the space they are in.
This lesson is not new.
The tragedy at Grenfell Tower showed, in the most devastating way possible, how combustible materials on or within a building can turn a fire into a catastrophe. Different building. Different context. Same underlying truth. Materials matter.
Batteries are changing the fire risk picture
Alongside traditional risks, fire assessors are now seeing a growing impact from lithium ion batteries. Fires involving e-bikes and e-scooters are becoming increasingly common across the UK, often linked to charging, storage or damaged batteries.
These fires behave differently. They burn hotter, are harder to extinguish and can reignite.
Larger scale incidents involving electric and diesel vehicles have also shown how quickly fire can overwhelm enclosed structures. The closure in October 2023 of an airport car park at London Luton following a diesel car fire highlighted how vehicle storage, confined spaces and fire spread can combine to create serious risk and disruption.
Fire risk assessments now need to consider not just what a building was designed for, but how it is actually being used today.
When temporary structures become permanent risks
A recent high-profile fire involving bamboo scaffolding in Hong Kong offers another reminder that fire risk is not limited to finished buildings. Bamboo scaffolding is widely used, as it is flexible and effective, but it is also combustible. It is being phased out – but too late for the 161 people who lost their lives.
When combined with hot works, refurbishment activity or ignition sources, bamboo can allow fire to travel rapidly across façades and between levels.
Fire risk assessments should always consider temporary works, scaffolding and construction materials, particularly where buildings remain occupied.
Just because something is temporary does not mean the risk is.
Fire risk assessments are not paperwork
A fire risk assessment is not a document to be filed away. It is a practical examination of how real people move through real spaces when things go wrong.
It should identify uncomfortable truths.
It should challenge layouts that look good but behave badly.
It should highlight materials, uses and practices that quietly increase risk.
Most importantly, it should lead to action.
A quiet reminder
Incidents like this are not about blame or hindsight. They are reminders that fire safety is about behaviour, not intention. About performance, not assumptions.
At Block Compliance Ltd, our work focuses on understanding how buildings actually perform under pressure. Fire risk assessments, compartmentation reviews and passive fire protection inspections all come back to the same principle.
When people are inside a building, the building should be on their side.
Fire safety is not about ticking boxes
If you’re looking for a team of passive fire protection professionals, get in touch with us at Block Compliance Ltd. We have an extensive portfolio, showcasing fire risk assessments, fire door surveys, fire compartmentation surveys and building safety case reports.
With clients across the UK, we welcome an informal conversation with property and block managers to safeguard people, property and reputation.
