New details in the Bolu fire tragedy that claimed 78 lives... Obsession with cars made the disaster even worse!

The expert report regarding the Grand Kartal Hotel fire in the Kartalkaya region of Bolu, which resulted in the deaths of 78 people, has been completed. The report on the tragedy, in which 51 people were also injured, emphasizes that gross negligence by the hotel management and staff led to a chain reaction of disaster.

The report states that the fire began at 03:17 in the restaurant located on the hotel's 4th floor (basement level 1). The reasons for the rapid spread of the flames and the prevalence of lethal smoke throughout the hotel are attributed to incorrect evacuation decisions, reckless door-opening maneuvers, and major deficiencies in the hotel's safety infrastructure.

OPENING THE PARKING LOT DOOR LED TO THE SPREAD OF THE FIRE 

One of the most striking findings in the expert report concerns the reckless actions of staff members who attempted to save vehicles in the parking lot during the fire. According to the report, after the fire started, the parking lot door was forced open manually at 03:29 due to a power outage.

It was stated that during this time, guests inside had not yet been warned, and the staff's priority was to evacuate vehicles rather than save people. With the opening of the door, the density difference between the cold air outside (0 °C) and the hot air inside (700 °C) created a massive oxygen flow. Consequently, the fire accelerated further, spread to the upper floors, and the stairwells acted like chimneys, rapidly spreading smoke throughout the entire building.

THE RECEPTIONIST'S ERRONEOUS INTERVENTION 

The report identified another error that contributed to the rapid spread of the fire: the receptionist leaving doors open. According to camera footage, when the receptionist noticed smoke filling the lobby, they placed a chair in front of the main door to keep it open and then abandoned the building.

This action provided a continuous flow of oxygen to the fire zone, causing the flames to grow. The expert report stated, "Due to the doors being left open, oxygen was continuously supplied to the fire area, and the uncontrolled spread of the fire could not be prevented."

The report also noted that years of ongoing negligence by the hotel management caused the fire to reach lethal proportions. It was stated that due to faulty renovations on the 11th and 12th floors, there was no stairwell access above the 10th floor, and therefore, there were no air vents through which toxic smoke could be evacuated.

According to the experts, the inability to evacuate the toxic smoke and high-temperature air caused it to fill the corridors, blocking escape routes for people and leading to fatal poisoning.

THE FIRST 10 MINUTES WERE CRITICAL! BUT THE STAFF DID NOT ACT 

It was emphasized that if evacuation procedures had been initiated within the first 10 minutes after the fire started, everyone could have been saved. The experts stated that even in hotels meeting minimum safety standards, all guests could be evacuated within this timeframe. However, due to the reckless actions of the receptionist and other staff, this vital window of time was wasted.

It was revealed that during the 12-minute period between 03:17, when the fire started, and 03:29, when the parking lot door was forced open, no one was woken up, and the only effort made was to save the cars.

Seda Yıldız, one of the lawyers for the victims, alleged that investigations conducted after the incident showed that some staff members were consciously trying to save the bosses' vehicles during the fire.

Yıldız said, "In the footage, eight male staff members are seen trying to remove vehicles from the parking lot. However, the guests in the hotel were not woken up. In the statements taken by the gendarmerie the day after the fire, most of the employees only said, 'The fire broke out, we saved ourselves.' But the guests' statements were almost never taken."

THE HOTEL'S FIRE SAFETY WAS INADEQUATE 

The report stated that the hotel management did not take sufficient safety measures against fire, which caused the incident to turn into a major disaster. The deficiencies were listed as follows:

There was no sprinkler (automatic fire extinguishing) system.

Fire doors, flame traps, and smoke evacuation systems were inadequate.

There was no automatic fire extinguishing system in the range hood.

There were no heat and smoke detectors in the restaurant.

The staff had not received fire and emergency training.

There was no competent staff to activate the warning system during the fire.

MANAGERS FOUND PRIMARILY AT FAULT

The report stated that the hotel management's long-standing negligent attitude toward fire safety was one of the primary reasons for this tragedy.

"Deficiencies in the hotel's architectural, mechanical, and structural design are among the main reasons why the fire spread so quickly and why people could not escape. The hotel managers did not employ an occupational health and safety specialist, did not conduct a risk assessment, and did not take even the most basic safety precautions. For these reasons, the managers are primarily at fault."