Ski resort inferno as fireplace rips via 5-star lodge in French Alps with a whole lot of vacationers evacuated
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Hundreds of people were evacuated after a fire swept through a five-star hotel in the ski resort of Courchevel in the French Alps.
The blaze started in the attic of the Hotel des Grandes Alpes at around 7 pm on Tuesday, the Prefecture of the Savoie region said on its website.
Officials said almost 100 people were evacuated, but local media later reported the number had risen to 270 after the fire spread to a nearby building.
The local government said in a statement that the ‘evacuation proceeded calmly’ and reported no injuries.
Staff and guests are understood to have taken refuge in other hotels.
Dramatic footage showed firefighters tackling the inferno, with flames tearing through the roof of a wooden chalet as thick plumes of dark smoke billowed out.
The fire was still burning on Wednesday morning, with the prefecture describing it as a ‘complex operation.’
Bruno Charlot, the sub-prefect of the village of Albertville, told local media the fire had ‘spread considerably overnight.’
Hundreds of people were evacuated after a fire swept through a five-star hotel in the ski resort of Courchevel in the French Alps
The fire was still raging this morning in the Alpine ski town
Pictured: The charred roof of the Hotel des Grandes Alpes after a fire tore through the building overnight
Some 115 firefighters were still at the scene tackling the flames on Wednesday morning.
The cause of the blaze remains unknown, but measures are under scrutiny in the region after a fire in a bar in the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana on New Year’s Eve killed 40 people and injured more than 100, many of them teenagers.
Swiss prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into the owners, Jacques and his wife Jessica Moretti, who are suspected of negligent homicide, negligent bodily harm and causing fire by negligence.
Investigators believe that sparkling candles ignited the fire when they came too close to the ceiling, which was outfitted with soundproofing material.
They are looking into whether the material conformed to regulations and whether the candles were permitted for use in the bar.
Local authorities have said that fire safety inspections of the bar hadn’t been carried out since 2019.
Investigators have since established that 34 of those who died in the fire perished on the bar’s small stairwell, which had been reduced in width by a third by the venue’s owners during renovation work in 2015.
Swiss law enforcement officers found numerous bodies at the bottom of the staircase after the wooden steps and handrails collapsed.
Pictured: The exterior of the five-star Hotel des Grandes Alpes in the upscale ski resort of Courchevel in the French Alps
At least 115 firefighters were battling the flames this morning after the fire had spread ‘considerably overnight,’ according to local officials
Firefighters are seen tackling the blaze, with local officials describing it as a ‘complex operation’
At least 270 people had been evacuated after the fire spread to a nearby building
Firefighters are pictured outside the Alpine hotel on Wednesday as they continue to tackle a blaze that started on Tuesday night
Dramatic footage showed firefighters tackling the inferno
A fire engine is pictured outside the hotel that caught on fire last night
They could not withstand the pressure of the fleeing crowd, detached from the wall, and plunged into the basement.
Mr Moretti has admitted to reducing the width of the stairwell from three metres to just one metre.
He carried out the renovations himself when he took over management of the Constellation in 2015, and it is not known whether he had planning permission or not.
According to multiple enquiry sources who have spoken to the media in France and Italy, the modification ‘played a decisive role in the disaster’.
When questioned by prosecutors on January 9, Mr Moretti did not discuss the stairwell renovation, but he admitted that a ‘ground-floor service door’ was locked from the inside when the fire started.
He said that he forced it open upon arriving at the scene and found victims dying from suffocation behind it.
Mr Moretti said he did not know why the door was locked, and, along with his wife, has denied any civil or criminal wrongdoing.
Mr Moretti was originally in pre-trial detention for at least the next three months, but a court on Friday ordered his release on bail.
The cause of the blaze remains unknown, but measures are under scrutiny in the region after a blaze in a bar in the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana on New Year’s Eve killed 40 people . Picture shows the very first moments of the Swiss Constellation Bar fire in Crans-Montana
The pyrotechnics are thought to have lit soundproofing foam in the ceiling, triggering a massive fire in which 116 others were also severely burned
Owners of Le Constellation bar Jacques Moretti (L) and Jessica Moretti (C) are currently under investigation and are facing charges of manslaughter by negligence, bodily harm by negligence and arson by negligence
A woman lights a candle at a makeshift memorial outside the ‘Le Constellation’ bar, after a deadly fire and explosion during a New Year’s Eve party, in the upscale ski resort of Crans-Montana in southwestern Switzerland, January 5, 2026
People mourn at a makeshift memorial outside the ‘Le Constellation’ bar, after a deadly fire and explosion during a New Year’s Eve party in the upscale ski resort of Crans-Montana in southwestern Switzerland, January 4, 2026
The firefighters of Crans-Montana, the first responders in the fire at the ‘Le Constellation’ bar and lounge, show emotions as they gather around flowers and candles to commemorate the victims, in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, January 4, 2026
Last week, a Swiss court imposed a travel ban on Ms Moretti as an alternative to pre-trial detention due to what prosecutors claim is a ‘risk of flight’.
She was ordered to surrender her passport and must report to the police every day, authorities say.
The Morettis face up to 20 years in prison if charged and found guilty of manslaughter.
It comes after it was revealed that the CCTV from the night of the fire mysteriously ‘crashed’ three minutes before the fire broke out.
According to Bild, detectives only have access to the footage up to 1.23 am – three minutes before the fire began.
In his January 1 interrogation, Moretti said of the CCTV: ‘At that point, the system crashed. I can’t reset it.’
He reportedly showed investigators screenshots of the latest recordings, with 11 camera angles pointed at the smoking room, the DJ, the bar, and sofas where people were sitting.
Pictures and videos of the bar on social media also vanished hours after the tragedy, raising suspicions that evidence was being destroyed, Bild reported.
