Disaster management and the Goteborg Fire of 1998: when first responders are blamed

On Thursday, the 29th of October, 1998, Goteburg, Sweden experienced one of its greatest fire related catastrophes. Sixty-three people lost their lives in a Goteburg discotheque. This paper describes the events surrounding the fire, its effects upon firefighters and the city of Goteborg, and the emergency mental health activities implemented to support fire and rescue personnel. Of particular importance were the effects experienced by fire and rescue personnel as they became targets for community grief and anger. This paper discusses the lessons learned from organizational and personnel points of view [International Journal of Emergency Mental Health, 2000, 2(4), 267-273].