When did the Bolu Kartalkaya hotel fire occur, why did it start, and how many people lost their lives?

When did the fire start?

A major tragedy occurred in Kartalkaya, a ski resort located in the Köroğlu Mountains in the Seben district of Bolu. A fire broke out at the Grand Kartal Hotel on the night connecting January 20, 2025, to January 21, 2025.

Following a report made to the emergency call center at 03:21 on January 21, 2025, fire crews set out from Bolu. The teams covered the 38-kilometer distance in approximately 1 hour and began to intervene in the fire at the hotel.

How many people lost their lives?

Firefighting efforts continued for nearly 1 day. The fact that the hotel was covered in wood made extinguishing the fire even more difficult.

78 people lost their lives in the Bolu Kartalkaya fire. 36 of these individuals were children under the age of 18.

Why did the fire start?

The fire, which was determined to have started in the kitchen, spread to other parts of the hotel in a short time. Hot oil splashing from a grill while breakfast was being prepared ignited the first flames. Instead of intervening with a fire extinguisher, hotel staff threw water on the flames, causing the fire to grow instantly.

Tuni Burhan, one of the hotel staff, described an incident that caused the disaster to grow even further. Burhan said, "An instruction came to the hotel manager. The manager said, 'Wake up the staff, don't tell anyone, we will put this out among ourselves. Send some of the staff to the parking lot.' It is alleged that hotel owner Halit Ergül gave these instructions. Things always worked this way at this hotel. Problems were always tried to be handled without informing anyone."