A warehouse fire caused the closure of two runways at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport on Tuesday but despite smoke billowing for miles air traffic was not affected, French media reported.
The fire started at 3pm local time in a warehouse in the city of Louvres, north of Paris, near Europe's third-largest airport after London Heathrow and Istanbul.
About 80 firefighters and 38 fire engines were sent to fight the blaze that was visible from parts of Paris. “Caution in the area,” the regional fire brigade warned on X. Around 30 gendarmes were also deployed.
The fire took hold in a storage depot used by travellers, which held dozens of parked vehicles, national broadcaster TF1 reported.
Two runways at Charles de Gaulle have been closed, it said, “though there has been no impact on air traffic so far”. The airport lies 25 kilometres north of Paris on more than 3,200 hectares.
Additionally, the fire caused a suburban train station to shut down and bus routes to be diverted.
Smoke from the blaze has spread for several kilometres. Neighbouring municipalities called on the public to take precautions, daily newspaper Le Parisien reported. Officials in the town of Fontenay-en-Parisis advised residents “to stay indoors, close doors and windows, and turn off ventilation systems if possible”.
France has suffered numerous forest fires this summer, including in the historic forest of Fontainebleau, south of Paris, as it endures a series of heatwaves.
