Crans-Montana authorities back mayor in fire safety probe

The municipality aligns itself with the position of its chairman Nicolas Féraud Keystone-SDA

The municipality of Crans-Montana has reacted to the 11-hour hearing of its mayor Nicolas Féraud in connection with the tragic fire on New Year's Day. In a statement published on its website, the municipality aligned its position with the mayor.

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The municipal authorities point out, as did Nicolas Féraud’s lawyer Christian Delaloye on Monday evening, that “since 2017, the city council has systematically responded favourably to all requests for staff increases made by the former and current heads of the public security department, without exception”. It added “that it has never set a budget limit in relation to security”.

“From 2017 to 2024, the number of full-time jobs (FTE) increased from 1 to 5 people, making the municipality’s public safety department one of the largest in the canton in terms of staff numbers. Since then, and until the New Year’s tragedy, the public safety department has not requested any further staff increases,” the city points out.

Search for new staff

With regard to the 2023 audit of the municipality’s operations, “its purpose was not to analyse a particular department, but to hear the views of each head of department a few years after the merger of the four municipalities (editors note – this included Chermignon, Montana, Randogne and Mollens on January 1, 2017)”, the authorities stress.

“The report did not identify any specific problems in any particular department. Nothing alarming was noted by the heads of department, nor brought to light by the author of the audit.”

The Association of Communes of Crans-Montana (ACCM) has also published two job advertisements on its website. The aim is to recruit a 10% head of staff and a half-time editor-in-chief for L’info, the bimonthly magazine published by the ACCM and Crans-Montana Tourisme & Congrès. The advertisement states the editorial team takes great care to present information in a positive, but not naïve, way that tells the story of life in the region.

Ongoing investigation

Féraud is the eighth of nine defendants to be questioned over the fire that killed 41 people and left 115 others injured. Like the other eight defendants, Féraud is charged with negligent homicide, negligent bodily harm and negligent arson.

Among the defendants are Jacques and Jessica Moretti, owners of the “Le Constellation” bar, where the fire occurred.

Translated from German by AI/jdp

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