David Vocat, the fire chief, recounted the horror he experienced while responding with his team to the fire at the Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, on New Year’s Eve. As a reminder, all 40 victims, including 20 minors, have now been identified, police announced on Sunday following a day of tributes in the grieving resort.

By Maxime de Valensart
Source: Franceinfo, AFP
January 5, 2026, 10:09 a.m.
Last updated: yesterday at 11:05 a.m.

In the cold but sunny air of the ski resort, hundreds of people gathered on Sunday to attend an outdoor mass in front of the overcrowded Saint-Christophe Chapel in Crans-Montana. The crowd then walked in silence toward the nearby chapel of rest close to the site of the tragedy, where thousands of flowers and hundreds of candles had been laid.

Women holding bouquets wiped away their tears. A wave of applause rose from the back of the procession, and the crowd parted to allow the rescue workers—many visibly shaken—to pass through.

David Vocat, commander of the local fire brigade, was of course present. His team was the first to arrive at the scene of the disaster. On Sunday, the man could not hold back his tears, deeply moved by the applause of the crowd, as seen in the images below.

“It was a scene no one should ever have to see,” he told franceinfo.
“When I saw people screaming, young people lying there, people almost on the ground, burned—it was truly shocking. And I thought to myself: ‘This is war.’ One of my colleagues said to me, ‘I didn’t sign up for this.’ But nobody signed up for this. We are volunteers, we give our time to help others. And these men and women did an absolutely incredible job.”

The fire chief then recalled a particularly painful moment:

“I took a girl in my arms, I gave her cardiac massage for a while, and then a medic told me: ‘Come on, now we have to take care of the others because they are the ones we can still save. Unfortunately, this girl is already dead.’ And having to leave someone on a bench like that—it’s so incredibly hard. No one should ever have to experience that in a lifetime.”

“I do this job out of passion, but I don’t know if I can continue”

David Vocat also praised the courage of the young people who helped during the rescue:

“Young people helped other young people, they helped us. We worked together to move victims from point A to point B. They grabbed chairs, equipment from a terrace. It was truly an incredible spirit of solidarity.”

Finally, the fire chief admitted that he is considering ending his career as a firefighter after this tragedy.

“I went to speak to a woman who lost her son that night. I was afraid she might push me away or say, ‘You let him die.’ We did everything we could. Unfortunately, he died. And that hurts deeply—for her. She told me, ‘Thank you for all the people you saved,’ even though her son is dead. That is just unbearable,” he said, before breaking down in tears.

“It’s very hard. I do this job out of passion, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to continue,” he added.