“Then let’s light them!”

Bar owner bought 900 “explosive” sparklers

Prior to the horrific fire at the “El Constellation” bar, bar owner Jessica Moretti is said to have ordered “explosive” spray candles.(Bild: Krone-Collage/Screenshot X, AFP/MAXIME SCHMID)

41 people lost their lives in the New Year’s Eve fire disaster at a bar in Crans-Montana—the fire was sparked by spray candles. Now a grim suspicion has arisen: The bar owner knew how dangerous the candles were. At least, that’s what messages to her employees suggest.

“As for the spray candles, I ordered 900. But we have to pick them up in France because they’re explosive and can’t be shipped to Switzerland.” That’s what Jessica Moretti, owner of the bar “Le Constellation,” said in a voice message on WhatsApp to her employees. She sent the message on December 6, 2025—25 days before the night of the disaster at the bar, as reported by the Italian newspaper “La Repubblica.”

How did the sparklers end up in the bar?
During an interrogation by the Valais public prosecutor’s office last week, this message was played back to Moretti. “I don’t remember that,” she insisted. “When I say ‘explosive,’ I mean sparklers.” She had ordered the sparklers, she said, “but I have no memory of picking them up in France, at least not in December.”

Normally, her husband Jacques Moretti would have picked up the candles, Jessica Moretti explained. He insisted that he had not brought the candles back from France. “I’m 99 percent sure of that.” Furthermore: “It was the company’s fault that they couldn’t deliver them, not that we couldn’t get them.”

This happened on New Year’s Eve

• At the New Year’s Eve party at the bar “Le Constellation” in Crans-Montana (Switzerland), sparklers set the foam on the ceiling on fire. The fire spread rapidly.
• The emergency exit was blocked, and guests had to flee to the outside via a narrow staircase. Dozens of people were unable to make it out in time.
• Forty-one people lost their lives in the inferno. 115 were injured, about 80 of them seriously.
• The bar’s owners, Jessica and Jacques Moretti, and municipal safety officials are under investigation for negligent homicide, negligent bodily injury, and negligent arson.

“If you hold them too high, the Constellation will burn”
This is not the only explosive voice message played for the couple during questioning. In 2019, Jessica Moretti had already warned her staff via WhatsApp about sparklers. “If you want spray candles, be very careful, and stay with them until the candle goes out. Because if they fall on the sofa or on the floor, or if they’re held too high and burn the foam, the Constellation will burn,” Moretti is said to have written.

Now, several years later, Moretti said that the message was meant “with a wink.” “It is by no means to be taken literally,” RTS quoted her as saying. The couple who ran the venue had always instructed staff to collect the candles, “because they can damage a sofa or a table.” According to the transcript, Moretti said: “But it’s impossible to know that there’s a danger.”

Forty-one people lost their lives in the fire.(Bild: EPA/CYRIL ZINGARO)

Ceiling had caught fire before
Foam had been attached to the ceiling of the club room at the “Constellation”—a highly flammable material. The foam is said to have caught fire as early as 2024, as reported by the Italian newspaper “Corriere della Sera,” citing a lawyer for the victims. At that time, staff and guests reportedly put out the fire and simply continued partying.

During the inferno on New Year’s Eve, however, the guests could do little more than flee. But the emergency exit was blocked by a bar stool—the guests had only a narrow staircase as an escape route, and many did not make it outside in time. 

“Is the emergency exit door still locked?”
The emergency exit had also been a topic in the Morettis’ WhatsApp messages to their team. In 2021, Jacques Moretti asked his employees if the emergency exit door was “stilllocked.” An employee confirmed that it was.

During the interrogation, Moretti said: “When I say ‘blocked,’ I mean ‘closed.’” Furthermore, the door cannot be locked from the inside; it is, after all, a certified door. Jessica added: “The idea that I would have given the order to close it to prevent people from leaving without paying is absurd.”

“All regulations met”
Overall, Jacques Moretti does not seem to see himself as responsible for the nightmarish incident. “Since we have complied with all regulations, the use of these spray fountains was approved, and the fire department conducted its inspection, we see no problem in carrying out this activity—aside from the fact that the inventory could be damaged in the process,” RTS quoted him as saying from the interrogation transcript. But one thing is also clear: contrary to regulations, the bar’s fire safety had not been inspected since 2019.