A traditional alcohol fondue burner was the cause of the 2022 fire that destroyed the Botta high-altitude restaurant, located at the top station of the cable car at the summit of the Glacier 3000 resort in the Vaud Alps. This is the finding of the criminal investigation. The head of catering at the time has been indicted for negligent arson. Three years ago, the alarm bell rang at 4:30 a.m. on September 19. Under difficult conditions at 3,000 meters of altitude, firefighters took twenty-three hours to extinguish the flames. The third and fourth floors of the building were destroyed, but not the cable car facilities, which are located on the lower floors of the same building. The fire originated from a standard alcohol-fueled burner. It started on the top floor, next to the bar. On a table placed against the kitchen wall, staff had stacked several devices. One of the burners had not been fully extinguished and ignited the plastic tank of another device placed on top of it. The flames then spread to nearby combustible materials. Ten units of the burners had been purchased and delivered several months earlier. Each purchase package included a user manual with a safety warning. The illustrated instructions clearly stated to “never stack the burners” and warned of the “risk of fire due to the synthetic fuel tank.” The head of gastronomy is considered responsible, even though a member of her team was involved. The indictment states that the person had not been informed of the warnings contained in the manual, nor had they been trained in the use of the burner. The indictment also notes that the first fire alarm was recorded by the detection center on September 18 at 7:18 p.m., two hours after the staff had left. It is not specified why emergency services were only alerted at dawn the next day by a third party, who saw the fire from the restaurant at Col du Pillon, located further down the mountain.
