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🇫🇷 France /Crime & Justice

Nitrous oxide canisters and fireworks mortars found after Paris apartment fire as investigation opens

From Le Figaro · () French

Translated from French and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Under investigation
  • A fire destroyed an 80-square-meter apartment on the 12th floor of a building in Paris’s 20th arrondissement.
  • Authorities opened a criminal investigation after finding nitrous oxide canisters and fireworks mortars that may have exploded during the blaze.
  • Three residents received treatment for smoke inhalation, and 12 households were placed in hotels while the building’s condition is assessed.

Residents thought they were hearing fireworks when an apartment fire broke out on the top floor of a building in Paris’s 20th arrondissement. “I thought there was a fireworks display,” one local resident told Le Parisien.

The fire began in the bedroom of an 80-square-meter apartment on the 12th and final floor, between the Belleville and Ménilmontant neighborhoods. Twenty-three vehicles and 90 firefighters were sent to the scene. The flames could be seen from several dozen meters away before firefighters brought them under control shortly after midnight.

I thought there was a fireworks display.

— Unnamed local residentThe resident described the sounds heard during the apartment fire.

The apartment was completely destroyed, but the rapid response saved the rest of the building, which authorities evacuated as a precaution. Three people received treatment for smoke inhalation, according to the Paris prosecutor’s office.

The investigation continues to establish the precise cause of the fire.

— Paris prosecutor’s officeThe office’s statement on the ongoing inquiry.

Investigators opened a formal inquiry into suspected involuntary destruction of another person’s property through an explosion or fire linked to a failure to meet a safety or prudence obligation. Nitrous oxide canisters and fireworks mortars were found inside the occupied apartment and may have exploded during the fire. The prosecutor’s office said the investigation continues to establish the precise cause.

Paris Habitat said it remained on site through the night to support residents. It arranged hotel accommodation for 12 households for several nights while teams assess how long repairs will take and whether longer-term rehousing will be necessary.

We were present throughout the night to put support arrangements in place for tenants.

— Paris HabitatThe housing provider described its response after the building was evacuated.
About this summary

Originally published by Le Figaro in French. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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