Last Friday, shortly before midnight, several residents of Uitikon Waldegg, in the canton of Zurich, heard explosions and called the emergency services. When the fire brigade arrived, they found a fireworks warehouse completely ablaze and partially collapsed. It was a major operation: they managed to prevent the fire from spreading to the neighbouring woodland, and fortunately no one was injured.
So far, it looks like a fairly straightforward accident. What is less common is that the investigation into the causes is not being conducted solely by the Zurich cantonal police, but is being co-ordinated with the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland – in other words, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office. That body does not usually get involved in a simple fire. It deals with terrorism, espionage, organised crime and offences with federal implications. It is unusual for it to be coordinating the investigation into a fireworks warehouse, and the authorities have not explained why.
According to the official statement, the causes of the fire and the explosions remain unknown. That is all for now. The fact that the final findings will be announced by the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office in a few weeks’ time will say a great deal about what they actually discovered that night.