Fire destroys Gstaad shooting club

A fire broke out last Sunday, June 1, at the Schützenhaus (shooting club) in Gschwend, Gstaad, causing several hundred thousand Swiss Francs worth of damage. A team of 50 from the local fire brigade were called to the scene after a neighbor gave the alarm at 4h16. By that time, according to brigade commander Christian Brand, it was too late to salvage the building which was already in full blaze. Fire-fighting was made even more difficult because of the power line which runs directly alongside the building. "We had to make sure that the power line was kept cool in order to protect ourselves from further danger," Brand told the Anzeiger von Saanen, "This slowed down our work." An investigation into the cause of the outbreak is underway.