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On this day, March 24, 1999, the Mont Blanc Tunnel fire started.
WHEELS
A Deadly Blaze in the Alps Made a Biker a Hero and Tunnels Safer for All
Two decades ago, 39 people died inside the Mont Blanc Tunnel in a fire so horrific it changed safety standards forever. The truth eventually caught up to the legend of a man who rushed in.
The Italian side of the Mont Blanc Tunnel. While the legend of the biker was exaggerated, the horror of the fire there 20 years ago — and its impact on tunnel safety — cannot be overstated. Samuel Zeller for The New York Times
By Mark Gardiner
March 21, 2019
Twenty years ago Sunday, a fire deep inside an Alpine tunnel killed 39 people and turned a motorcycle-riding security guard who worked there into a hero. In the chaos just after the blaze, local French and Italian newspapers reported that the biker had raced in and out of the burning tunnel, saving as many as 10 people before dying in one last rescue attempt. ... It was some time before investigators released a final, accurate account of the disaster at the Mont Blanc Tunnel: The biker, who was known by his nickname, Spadino, an Italian riff on his skinny frame, had not saved anyone. But he died trying to do so, and local bikers still gather at the tunnel mouth once a year to honor him.
While the legend was exaggerated, the horror of the fire — and its impact on tunnel safety — cannot be overstated. The lessons of the tragedy have guided tunnel design and engineering ever since, including recent American projects like the Port of Miami Tunnel and Seattle’s new S.R. 99 Tunnel.
Temperatures reached 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit, and it took a week before the tunnel cooled enough for forensic investigators to reach the bodies. Associated Press
The Mont Blanc Tunnel opened to traffic in 1965. When built, it was the world’s longest road tunnel, linking the French and Italian highway systems and shortening truck routes between Italy’s industrial north and other parts of Europe. It had been open nearly 35 years without a single fatal incident until the morning of March 24, 1999.
[Read the original Times coverage of the 1999 fire at the Mont Blanc Tunnel.]
Around 11 a.m., a Volvo FH12 tractor-trailer, registered in Belgium, stopped to pay the toll. It was an ordinary truck with ordinary cargo: nine tons of margarine and 12 tons of flour. ... To this day, no one can say with certainty why the rig caught fire. The driver, who had been alerted to a problem by oncoming vehicles, stopped almost in the middle of the 7.2-mile tunnel. When he climbed out of the cab, flames burst from under the truck, and he leapt back. Witnesses reported that the fire had very quickly become too intense to drive past.
{snip}
A Deadly Blaze in the Alps Made a Biker a Hero and Tunnels Safer for All
Two decades ago, 39 people died inside the Mont Blanc Tunnel in a fire so horrific it changed safety standards forever. The truth eventually caught up to the legend of a man who rushed in.
The Italian side of the Mont Blanc Tunnel. While the legend of the biker was exaggerated, the horror of the fire there 20 years ago — and its impact on tunnel safety — cannot be overstated. Samuel Zeller for The New York Times
By Mark Gardiner
March 21, 2019
Twenty years ago Sunday, a fire deep inside an Alpine tunnel killed 39 people and turned a motorcycle-riding security guard who worked there into a hero. In the chaos just after the blaze, local French and Italian newspapers reported that the biker had raced in and out of the burning tunnel, saving as many as 10 people before dying in one last rescue attempt. ... It was some time before investigators released a final, accurate account of the disaster at the Mont Blanc Tunnel: The biker, who was known by his nickname, Spadino, an Italian riff on his skinny frame, had not saved anyone. But he died trying to do so, and local bikers still gather at the tunnel mouth once a year to honor him.
While the legend was exaggerated, the horror of the fire — and its impact on tunnel safety — cannot be overstated. The lessons of the tragedy have guided tunnel design and engineering ever since, including recent American projects like the Port of Miami Tunnel and Seattle’s new S.R. 99 Tunnel.
Temperatures reached 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit, and it took a week before the tunnel cooled enough for forensic investigators to reach the bodies. Associated Press
The Mont Blanc Tunnel opened to traffic in 1965. When built, it was the world’s longest road tunnel, linking the French and Italian highway systems and shortening truck routes between Italy’s industrial north and other parts of Europe. It had been open nearly 35 years without a single fatal incident until the morning of March 24, 1999.
[Read the original Times coverage of the 1999 fire at the Mont Blanc Tunnel.]
Around 11 a.m., a Volvo FH12 tractor-trailer, registered in Belgium, stopped to pay the toll. It was an ordinary truck with ordinary cargo: nine tons of margarine and 12 tons of flour. ... To this day, no one can say with certainty why the rig caught fire. The driver, who had been alerted to a problem by oncoming vehicles, stopped almost in the middle of the 7.2-mile tunnel. When he climbed out of the cab, flames burst from under the truck, and he leapt back. Witnesses reported that the fire had very quickly become too intense to drive past.
{snip}
Mont Blanc Tunnel fire
A memorial plaque on the French side of the tunnel; pictured in 2010, remembering those who were killed in the fire.
Date: March 24, 1999; 25 years ago
Venue: Mont Blanc Tunnel
Location: Chamonix, Haute-Savoie, France
Coordinates: 45.85451°N 6.912534°E
Type: Fire
Deaths: 39
Non-fatal injuries: 14
On 24 March 1999, a transport truck caught fire while driving through the Mont Blanc Tunnel between France and Italy. When it stopped halfway through the tunnel, it violently combusted. Other vehicles traveling through the tunnel quickly became trapped and they also caught fire as firefighters were unable to reach the transport truck. 39 people were killed. In the aftermath, major changes were made to the tunnel to improve its safety.
{snip}
A memorial plaque on the French side of the tunnel; pictured in 2010, remembering those who were killed in the fire.
Date: March 24, 1999; 25 years ago
Venue: Mont Blanc Tunnel
Location: Chamonix, Haute-Savoie, France
Coordinates: 45.85451°N 6.912534°E
Type: Fire
Deaths: 39
Non-fatal injuries: 14
On 24 March 1999, a transport truck caught fire while driving through the Mont Blanc Tunnel between France and Italy. When it stopped halfway through the tunnel, it violently combusted. Other vehicles traveling through the tunnel quickly became trapped and they also caught fire as firefighters were unable to reach the transport truck. 39 people were killed. In the aftermath, major changes were made to the tunnel to improve its safety.
{snip}
Sun Mar 26, 2023: On this day, March 24, 1999, the Mont Blanc Tunnel fire started.
Thu Mar 24, 2022: On this day, March 24, 1999, the Mont Blanc Tunnel fire started.