Paris fire: Dramatic pictures show huge flames in French capital as smoke fills sky

A huge blaze ripped through a waste sorting centre in on Monday afternoon, with hundreds of firefighters racing to the scene to tackle "toxic fumes".

The entire Paris ring road was closed to in both directions in the north of the capital after the fire engulfed the basement of the Syctom waste sorting centre in the 17th arrondissement. By early evening, hundreds of firefighters were combatting "toxic fumes" as they tried to extinguish the flames in front of horrified onlookers. Dramatic images showed a raging inferno gutting the industrial building - and clouds of smoke billowing behind the Sacre Coeur Basilica before spreading to surrounding districts. said they feared the structure, which is being held up by wooden beams, would collapse, and that the fire would spread further north.

"The ring-road has been shut in both directions to enable emergency vehicles clear access to the fire," said an emergency services spokesman. "There are fears that the wooden beams of the building will collapse, and that the wind will cause the fire to spread further north."

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"There have been no injuries reported so far, as the area around the building was evacuated," said the spokesman. The Paris ring road – known as the périphérique – covers 22miles and is made up of two concentric carriageways encircling Paris. Its closure immediately caused huge build-ups of traffic on roads nearby, including around Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports.

Geoffroy Boulard, the Mayor of the 17th arrondissement, confirmed the fire broke out "in the basement of the Syctom centre" and "all employees have been evacuated." There were no immediate indications as to what caused the fire, but a full investigation was likely to get underway. Eye witness Karim Aboulker, 47, said: "It’s a frightening looking fire – we’ve been told to move somewhere else. The entire area is very chaotic."

The Syctom waste sorting centre opened its doors in June 2019. It has been described as a "high capacity and automated" site, recycling waste from over 900,000 residents. The Paris Fire Department said in a warning to the public on social media to "avoid the area to allow emergency services to work".

In a statement, they said: "A major fire is currently underway on Boulevard de Douaumont in #Paris17. Avoid the area to let emergency services do their work. Residents, stay cautious."

It was almost exactly six years ago – on April 15 2019 – that a massive fire broke out at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. The fire was thought to have been started by a discarded cigarette or an electrical short circuit, and destroyed the cathedral's wooden spire and most of the wooden roof. A restoration programme costing multi-millions saw the Cathedral reopening last December.