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Paris Fire Kills at Least 7, Reports Say Paris Building Fire Kills at Least 8; Arson Is Suspected
(about 3 hours later)
At least seven people were killed and 27 injured as an eight-story building caught fire in a popular tourist area of Paris, according to news reports early Tuesday. PARIS — At least eight people were killed and 36 injured after a fast-moving fire that may have been intentionally set coursed through an eight-story building in a residential part of western Paris on Tuesday.
Firefighters had evacuated the block on Erlanger Street in the 16th Arrondissement, or district, as of 3:30 a.m. local time, according to Agence-France Presse. The seventh and eighth floors were still on fire as of Tuesday morning, when about 200 firefighters were on the scene, the news agency reported, citing the fire service. Footage from the scene provided by the Paris Fire Department to French television showed flames bursting through the upper windows of the building and black smoke swirling around the courtyard, as firefighters climbed up ladders to reach people at their windows. Some were lowered to the ground using harnesses.
Clement Cognon, a fire service spokesman, said firefighters had rescued several people who had taken refuge on nearby roofs. The police opened a criminal investigation, the authorities were treating the fire as a possible case of arson. Rémy Heitz, the Paris prosecutor, told reporters early Tuesday that a 40-year-old woman living in the building had been taken into custody.
Officials have not yet determined a cause. “This person was arrested overnight, not far from the scene, not far from the fire,” Mr. Heitz said. He said that the woman had a history of mental health issues but did not provide more details about her identity or the reasons for her arrest.
Firefighters responded to the fire in the apartment building on Rue Erlanger, in the 16th Arrondissement, around 1 a.m., according to Capt. Valérian Fuet, a spokesman for the Paris Fire Department.
Over 200 firefighters worked for hours until the blaze was finally put out shortly before 7 a.m., Captain Fuet said, adding that one person was seriously injured and that eight firefighters were among those who had suffered lighter injuries.
About 50 people were evacuated from the building, he said, as were people in neighboring structures who were told to leave as a precaution. Those who had died appeared to have been burned or inhaled the smoke.
“When we arrived, the fire had already started on several floors,” Captain Fuet told reporters later Tuesday morning, adding that the blaze had spread very rapidly.
He said that the fire had started in a part of an apartment complex that opens onto a courtyard rather than the street, preventing the firefighters from using mechanical ladders from their trucks, and forcing them instead to use hand ladders to evacuate residents.
Firefighters were still searching for survivors and assessing damage, including a potential risk that the seventh and eighth floors might collapse, Captain Fuet said.
Julien Denormandie, the French minister in charge of housing, told reporters at the scene that the building was about 50 years old and was not known to be at risk.
The fire on Tuesday came several weeks after a powerful explosion tore through a bakery in the 9th Arrondissement, killing four people, including two firefighters, and wounding more than 60. The authorities believe the blast was caused by a gas leak, and an investigation is underway.