A massive fire has engulfed a Paris warehouse, sending towering plumes of black smoke visible across the region and prompting a major emergency response, with around 150 firefighters and 50 vehicles deployed to tackle the blaze.
The inferno broke out at around 2pm at the Vignes industrial park on Rue Henri Gautier in Bobigny, a commune in the north-east of the French capital. The fire took hold of a 75,000 square foot two-storey warehouse housing approximately ten furniture and equipment companies, rapidly engulfing the entire building.
Shocking footage circulating on social media shows the blaze spewing vast towers of black smoke into the sky, with residents across the wider region capturing images from tens of miles away. Parisians have been urged to avoid the area while the fire remains uncontained.
The Paris Fire Brigade confirmed that no casualties had been reported and that no one was listed as missing. “No casualties have been reported at this stage of the operation, and no one is missing,” the BSPP said in a statement. The cause of the fire has not yet been established, and investigations will follow once the blaze has been brought under control.
The Bobigny fire is the latest in a series of significant blazes to strike the Paris area in recent months. Earlier this year, more than 400 guests were evacuated from the five-star Palace Le Bristol hotel after a fire broke out in a basement kitchen, with two members of staff attempting to tackle the flames before the emergency services arrived. The hotel, a landmark frequently used by visiting world leaders and celebrities and featured in Woody Allen’s 2011 film Midnight in Paris, was forced to clear all its rooms during the incident. Last April, a separate major fire in the 17th Arrondissement cast dark clouds over the French capital, with around 200 firefighters and 60 engines deployed amid fears of a catastrophic spread reminiscent of the 2019 Notre-Dame fire.
