“I was working in the basement of the hotel when the firefighters opened the door and asked me to leave.” For Arnaud* and around 80 other people, Thursday evening took an unexpected turn. Around 11 p.m., firefighters carried out the entire evacuation of the Moxy hotel, located in Flon. Rue de la Vigie and Square de l’arbre Flon were closed while an alert message requesting the evacuation of the premises rang out repeatedly for a long time.
The reason for this mayhem in the middle of the evening? Triggering the automatic water heater alarm. When firefighters arrived on site, they noticed steam emitting around the device. “The water heater went into overpressure. It’s like a pressure cooker, it could explode at any moment,” explains Sylvain Jacot-Descombes, press respondent for the City of Lausanne police.
A large security perimeter has been deployed. A major security system was put in place: several ambulances, police and fire vehicles were dispatched to the scene. “Fortunately the barracks are on the other side of the street,” notes the communicator.
Guests and hotel employees were redirected to a room in the fire station. The police carried out their identification. At midnight, it is still impossible to know if guests will be able to sleep at the hotel that night.
“The technicians are looking for a solution to reduce the pressure. We must wait for their response to decide whether a rehousing solution is necessary,” says Sylvain Jacot-Descombes.
Customers resorted to nearby bars, others preferred to stay in the fire department premises. Some have even moved towards the city center, suitcase in hand, while waiting for the situation to recover.
