Gotthard tunnel firefighter recalls deadly 2001 blaze

Twenty-five years after a fire in the Gotthard Road Tunnel killed 11 people, former firefighter Xaver Bühlmann has told SRF how his crew was forced to retreat as smoke swept towards them.

On 24 October 2001, two lorries collided head-on in the tunnel, triggering a fire and panic among those inside. Bühlmann, then 43 and serving with the fortress guard corps, was on duty with the Gotthard emergency response service. He rode in the first fire engine sent into the tunnel from the north.

After receiving a pager alert about the crash, Bühlmann and three colleagues drove into the tunnel with sirens and flashing lights. They were told the fire was near the southern portal. Their plan was to stop 500 metres from the blaze, but a dense wave of smoke met them when they were still about three kilometres away.

“When the wave of smoke rolled towards us, I got scared,” Bühlmann told SRF. The crew stopped to put on their breathing apparatus, which was not kept in the vehicle’s cab. Bühlmann, who was relatively new to the unit, struggled with his equipment as the smoke reached them. A colleague helped him with his mask, and they fled into a nearby shelter.

Another firefighter followed them inside, pale and coughing, and vomited. He was later taken to hospital with smoke inhalation. Bühlmann said the disaster remains a painful memory a quarter-century later.