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[2024] Alpenexpress & Tiroler Wildwasserbahn Rebuild

It's tough to know what they are going to do. They'll surely be a review of all current indoor building and attractions to ensure there are no obvious electrical faults etc.

Clearly fire detection systems are very good, hence their ability to evacuates rides without any injuries whatsoever. And staff must be trained well in this regard. But yeah, they cannot afford another fire.

There are area of the park where a major fire could be even more destructive that the 2018 and 2023 fires, it does not bare thinking about how much would be lost if areas around Italy, France and Germany went up.
 
Yeah - I guess - just a good review/inspections. older sets and props might not have been painted in fire resistant paint - that could be one move. Sprinkler systems, in some instanced brick partitions if its only wood between buildings - like you say between all the buildings in Italy/Germany etc.
A review of nearest water points for fire services. another is changing all lighting to LED/reducing heat, and a general review of all electronics and wiring over a certain age.

And of course review of escape routes and detection systems

. There will always be a limit to what you can actually do! But having a focus and audit is a good start!

Also it might dictate building materials going forward!
 
Islander said:
Fire retardancy only has a set lifespan anyway, normally 3-5 years, sometimes longer. Beyond that, it needs refreshing.
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Last time we had safety in for a stage set, we were advised 25 years between treatments for wood, five years for soft materials.
Thermal barrier paint for foam has a fifty year lifespan.
 
Two major fires at a park within a few years is quite alarming.

They can re build as quickly as they want. That does not take away from the fact that these two fires were major, ultimately a stroke of luck no one was killed.

If I was Europa Park. I would be taking a look at anything that is a tinderbox and closing it until it can be made fire safe. They won't do that because I fear their commendable guest experience ethos will cloud their judgement and get in the way. As I suspect alot of their attractions are made from flammable materials, meaning a fair few rides would need to be down for an extended period of time.

Look at it through rose tinted glasses all you want but facts are facts. No other park on the planet has had two major fires in such a short space of time. You would expect in 2023, people can get out in time and they have. But a major fire shouldn't happen once, twice however, is very alarming.
 
DistortAMG said:
I would be taking a look at anything that is a tinderbox and closing it until it can be made fire safe. They won't do that because I fear their commendable guest experience ethos will cloud their judgement and get in the way.
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No I can't see them doing that - but what they could do is a phased audit, starting with oldest, and work round sections.
 
Plastic Person said:
Just how flammable is Blue Fire?
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....dark rides. Specially their stock of older attractions.

Phased audits could work. But the older something is does not nessicarily make it more flammable. Up to a point it may. I suspect the flammability of materials used inside attractions would match with German legislation. Which would make an audit not really effective in stopping the immediate risk.

We are not talking about small fires, these were huge. 2 major fires in 5 years, in similar attraction types in a park known for it's plethora of attractions of this type. Major red flags there.

While we don't know exact details, given the parks rapid turnaround in getting attractions open, it would suggest that after this second fire. Europa Park may to a point, historically push guest satisfaction and ride avaliablilty, over alot of other things. Including making their attractions that are flammable less flammable, as this would require rides to close for extended periods of time.

There is no way to prove this of course, but the evidence does not point away from this being the case. It points directly at it.

The first fire. Which was HUGE. Should have been enough to kick them up the backside. It wasn't clearly as this would have not happened to such an extent and size at least if lessons were learnt. There wad no motive to learn lessons. When will lessons be learnt? When a fire exit jams and a group of people burn alive?

I'm sure they will remedy the situation, but for this to happen a second time, in such a short space of time is quite frankly, seriously alarming. This doesn't happen like this, not unless there are a series of internal failures.

Maybe their strategy is early fire detection to evacuate early. It is the easier and cheaper option to take. But you fly to close to sun for too long, you'll always get burnt.
 
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I don't agree with the premise that they should close all rides that are at risk of fire until remedial action has taken place. It's unfeasible for a start, and where do you draw the line? Indoor rides only, include shops and restaurants, well if you do that then you're closing the whole park.

The sensible thing to do right now it to undertake a thorough audit and inspection of all indoor attraction, and ensure that there are no obvious faults etc. I am not going to pretend to be a fire safety expert, so can't comment on what this would mean in practice.

It definitely is concerning that have 2 fires in 5 years, and I am sure that alarm bells will be ringing. I trust Europa-Park to do what they believe is the right thing.

In other news, the police investigation on site has now been completed. Laboratory analysis continues. Here is a look at the building in the days after the fire, I am surprised at how well intact the roof stayed:



It's going to be a tricky building to demolish whilst the park is open to guests.
 
DistortAMG said:
Two major fires at a park within a few years is quite alarming.

They can re build as quickly as they want. That does not take away from the fact that these two fires were major, ultimately a stroke of luck no one was killed.

If I was Europa Park. I would be taking a look at anything that is a tinderbox and closing it until it can be made fire safe. They won't do that because I fear their commendable guest experience ethos will cloud their judgement and get in the way. As I suspect alot of their attractions are made from flammable materials, meaning a fair few rides would need to be down for an extended period of time.

Look at it through rose tinted glasses all you want but facts are facts. No other park on the planet has had two major fires in such a short space of time. You would expect in 2023, people can get out in time and they have. But a major fire shouldn't happen once, twice however, is very alarming.
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I mean Towers had 2 major fires in that time frame but I get your point.
 
The thing is these fires are large due to the large open spaces allowing the buildings to be consumed without any fire brakes, it is hard to compare this to anything other than warehouse/self storage fires which unfortunately nearly always end up being a total loss. Fire is unfortunately a savage beast.

I expect a thermal cut out on a compressor failed when the report comes out ..
 
Dave said:
I mean Towers had 2 major fires in that time frame but I get your point.
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As far as I can remember, I stand corrected if not. But Altons fires were no where near the size, scale and destruction of these fires.
 
DistortAMG said:
As far as I can remember, I stand corrected if not. But Altons fires were no where near the size, scale and destruction of these fires.
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One was, completely burn’t down the Dark Forest station. The main drive fire was more contained to the roof I think.
 
I think there needs to be a bit of a sense of balance on both sides of the argument. It's incredibly unlucky for two large fires to occur, and like any major incident that means there will and indeed should be further detailed review on how they can improve things in future. Be that from a procedural point of view or from the installation of additional fire protection. It doesn't however, mean that everything that's a "tinder box" should be shut down pending it being "made safe". You can put as much fire protection as you want on things, but ultimately the vast majority of stuff will go up in flames at some point. If the fire was caused by an electrical fault, you concentrate on minimising the risk of that happening again by changing inspection procedures/replacing equipment. Much like the park minimised the risk after the Scandinavia incident by minimising fire effects usage.

Remember, we have barely any official word on when they were first alerted to the fire, when they started evacuating and when guests were off the affected attractions before the fire actually took hold. What we do know is that there were no injuries aside from minor ones from two responders with smoke inhalation injuries, which is impressive considering the 25,000 guests on park that day. So while some may claim that it was a miracle no one was hurt, others may say that it was a sign that the procedures and existing protection in place worked. In addition, considering it was so contained so well to essentially one building leans me toward the latter.

But, as pointed out fires have occurred in other parks such as Towers that have also caused a complete loss of a building - with the Skyride fires happening within 2 years of each other. Yes, they were "smaller scale", but the CCL Skyride fire was an electrical fault just like the EP one appears to be. As @rob666 pointed out, there's a fair bit of space between the station and other building. However, would that fire have been only limited to the station if the same thing were to occur on Towers Street's Skyride station?....
Screenshot at Jun 27 15-48-48.png
And would those fires have had the same "no casualties" outcome if they occurred during peak hours at the theme park like they did at EP? It's obviously impossible to say for certain, and I hope no park is put in that situation. But I think it's just important to have a bit of perspective on the whole thing and what actions should be taken as a result of it. Germany is renowned for its safety procedures, I have full faith that reviews will be carried out and changes made without going the "full hog" and closing things en masse like some are suggesting.
 
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