The Club Cinq-Sept fire was a major blaze at a

nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

just outside

Saint-Laurent-du-Pont Saint-Laurent-du-Pont () is a commune in the Isère department in southeastern France. In 1970 it was the location of the Club Cinq-Sept fire, in which 146 people died. Population Economy There is a large cement works at Saint-Laurent-du-P ...

Isère Isère ( , ; ; , ) is a landlocked Departments of France, department in the southeastern French Regions of France, region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Named after the river Isère (river), Isère, it had a population of 1,271,166 in 2019.

, France, on Sunday, 1 November 1970. The fire claimed the lives of 146 people, almost all of whom were aged between 17 and 30. The scale of the disaster shocked the country. Subsequent official enquiries revealed a catalogue of shortcomings, oversights and evasions with regard to

fire safety Fire safety is the set of practices intended to reduce destruction caused by fire. Fire safety measures include those that are intended to prevent wikt:ignition, the ignition of an uncontrolled fire and those that are used to limit the spread a ...

at both local and

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 ...

level.

Criminal charge A criminal charge is a formal accusation made by a governmental authority (usually a public prosecutor or the police) asserting that somebody has committed a crime. A charging document, which contains one or more criminal charges or counts, can t ...

s were brought against a number of people; some received suspended jail sentences.

Venue

The Club Cinq-Sept (or Club 5–7), which was situated in a relatively isolated location 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from Saint-Laurent-du-Pont, opened for business in April 1970. It was housed within a newly constructed large, open-plan windowless structure with external walls built of

cinder blocks A concrete block, also known as a cinder block in North American English, breeze block in British English, or concrete masonry unit (CMU), or by various other terms, is a standard-size rectangular block used in building construction. The u ...

supporting a

corrugated iron Corrugated galvanised iron (CGI) or steel, colloquially corrugated iron (near universal), wriggly tin (taken from UK military slang), pailing (in Caribbean English), corrugated sheet metal (in North America), zinc (in Cyprus and Nigeria) or ...

roof. The main entrance to the club was via a spiked full-height

turnstile A turnstile (also called a gateline, baffle gate, automated gate, turn gate in some regions) is a form of gate which allows one person to pass at a time. A turnstile can be configured to enforce One-way traffic#One-way traffic of people, one-way ...

. The ground floor housed a dance floor, bar and

restaurant A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and Delivery (commerce), food delivery services. Restaurants ...

, with simulated grottos constructed of

polyurethane Polyurethane (; often abbreviated PUR and PU) is a class of polymers composed of organic chemistry, organic units joined by carbamate (urethane) links. In contrast to other common polymers such as polyethylene and polystyrene, polyurethane term ...

and

papier-mâché file:JacmelMardiGras.jpg, upright=1.3, Mardi Gras papier-mâché masks, Haiti Papier-mâché ( , , - the French term "mâché" here means "crushed and ground") is a versatile craft technique with roots in ancient China, in which waste paper is s ...

around the walls. A single spiral staircase led to a gallery which ran right round the building and contained more alcoves and grottos. The roof was supported by pillars which were decorated with various

flammable A combustible material is a material that can burn (i.e., sustain a flame) in air under certain conditions. A material is flammable if it ignites easily at ambient temperatures. In other words, a combustible material ignites with some effort ...

materials.Canning, J: ''Great Disasters'', pages 100–101. Ivy Leaf Books, 1990. . The Club Cinq-Sept quickly established itself as a popular draw for young people in the region, attracting customers from Saint-Laurent-du-Pont, the nearby towns of

Chambéry Chambéry (, , ; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Chambèri'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Savoie Departments of France, department in the southeastern ...

and Voiron, and the city of

Grenoble Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...

, 20 miles (32 km) away.

Fire

On the night of 31 October/1 November 1970, the Club Cinq-Sept had drawn a large crowd to watch a live performance by Les Storms, an up-and-coming six-piece

rock group A musical ensemble, also known as a music group, musical group, or a band is a group of people who perform instrumental and/or vocal music, with the ensemble typically known by a distinct name. Some music ensembles consist solely of instrumen ...

from

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. An estimated 180 people were still in the club at 1:40 a.m. when a fire broke out. It was reportedly caused by a carelessly discarded match igniting a foam-filled seat cushion on the first-floor gallery. The blaze spread rapidly through the roof space fuelled by the building's flammable décor and furnishings. People in the gallery struggled to escape down the single spiral staircase as flames spread across the ceiling. Only 30 people within the main club area managed to exit the building via the main entrance turnstile before a wall of fire plunged down from the gallery turning the whole building into an inferno. Survivors later claimed that the emergency exits had been padlocked and then nailed shut with planks to stop anyone from sneaking into the venue without paying. Few managed to escape after this point, and of those who did, most suffered severe

burn A burn is an injury to skin, or other tissues, caused by heat, electricity, chemicals, friction, or ionizing radiation (such as sunburn, caused by ultraviolet radiation). Most burns are due to heat from hot fluids (called scalding), soli ...

injuries. A group of four survivors claimed they were able to escape the premises shortly after noticing the flames and attempted to pry open the emergency exit doors to help others escape. Additionally, they claimed that some passers-by noticed their attempts to help, and most did not stop to help but instead laughed at them. The club had no telephone on the premises. One of the club's managers, Gilbert Bas, was among those who had managed to escape and he had to drive into Saint-Laurent-du-Pont to raise the alarm. With the great speed with which the fire engulfed the building and the delay in alerting the emergency services, there was little the arriving firefighters could do when they eventually reached the club. A firefighter was later quoted as saying "There wasn't a murmur or a cry. Imagine our horror when the first group succeeded in getting the door open and then bodies falling on them." The fire's intensity completely gutted the building's interior and caused the roof to melt and collapse.

Victims

When firefighters were able to enter the building, they found 140 bodies within, most too badly burned for visual identification to be possible. Six badly-injured survivors were transferred to a specialised burn treatment unit in

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

; four would succumb to their injuries, bringing the final death toll to 146. Two of the club's three managers were among the dead, as were all six members of Les Storms.

Investigation and prosecution

Three days after the fire, the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

of Saint-Laurent-du-Pont and the

secretary-general Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

of the Isère département were removed from their duties. This rapid move provoked a degree of controversy as it was seen by some, including a number of local politicians in Isère, as premature

scapegoating Scapegoating is the practice of singling out a person or group for unmerited blame and consequent negative treatment. Scapegoating may be conducted by individuals against individuals (e.g., "he did it, not me!"), individuals against groups (e.g ...

before the full facts had been investigated. An official enquiry held in Grenoble found that many fire safety regulations had been breached.

Planning permission Planning permission or building permit refers to the approval needed for construction or expansion (including significant renovation), and sometimes for demolition, in some jurisdictions. House building permits, for example, are subject to buil ...

had been obtained for the construction of the building, but French law also required an inspection of the finished structure by building safety and fire department officials prior to opening for business; this had not been done. There was no firefighting equipment on the premises, and unsafe materials were inappropriately used for internal furnishing and decoration. The gallery level had no emergency exit; its only means of egress was the spiral staircase and through the main club. The inquiry heard that, as required by law, the club had two exit doors in addition to the main entrance. However, in contravention of fire regulations, neither was marked; also, both were routinely locked and barred by the club managers in order to prevent patrons inside the building opening them to let others in free of charge. Although three managers held keys, two had succumbed to the effects of the fire and the third, Bas, had left to raise the alarm. The investigation heard how a man who had earlier escaped from the building managed to break open one of the doors, through which one woman was rescued alive; many others trapped behind the doors trying to escape had already perished. In June 1971, Bas was charged with, and found guilty of,

manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th ce ...

in relation to the deaths. He received a two-year

suspended sentence A suspended sentence is a sentence on conviction for a criminal offence, the serving of which the court orders to be deferred in order to allow the defendant to perform a period of probation. If the defendant does not break the law during that ...

. The mayor and three building contractors were found guilty of causing injury through

negligence Negligence ( Lat. ''negligentia'') is a failure to exercise appropriate care expected to be exercised in similar circumstances. Within the scope of tort law, negligence pertains to harm caused by the violation of a duty of care through a neg ...

, and received short suspended sentences. Gilbert Bas, the last surviving manager of Club Cinq-Sept died on 20 January 2021.

References

External links