A fire seems to have gutted one of the oldest food landmarks in Paris. The Marché des Enfants Rouges, a covered market in the Marais district of the 3rd arrondissement, burned overnight from Sunday to Monday, October 12, according to Paris fire brigade officials quoted by France 24, BFMTV and franceinfo. “The market was completely destroyed,” Lieutenant Colonel Pierre de Bouvier told reporters on site, in France 24’s English rendering of the AFP report. “Nothing remains of the covered market,” he added, according to the same report. Reuters, in a dispatch carried by the Italian site Internazionale, says a fire “tore through Paris’ oldest covered food market in the early hours of Monday,” destroying a historic site popular with tourists.
Reports give two times about an hour apart. The Paris police prefecture told franceinfo the fire broke out at 3 a.m., France 3 cites the prefecture for around 3 a.m., and TF1 Info places the first flames at around 3 a.m.; Reuters, citing French media, gives about 3 a.m. (0100 GMT). Firefighters told BFMTV they received the alert at about 4:15 a.m. and found the fire already fully developed when crews arrived. ABC News, citing fire officials, says firefighters began battling the blaze at about 4:15 a.m., roughly an hour after it started. The prefecture told TF1 Info that the whole site, of about 1,000 square meters, had caught fire, and named the risk of the rest of the structure collapsing as its main concern.
The response drew more than 150 firefighters and about 50 vehicles, BFMTV reports. In a statement quoted by ABC News, the brigade said: “Despite the rapid intervention of emergency services, the fire completely engulfed the 1,000 [square meters] occupied by the covered market.” It added, in ABC News’ rendering: “Nine hoses, including 2 high-powered ones, were required to bring the disaster under control.” De Bouvier said the market’s metal structure had “partially collapsed” inside, according to France 24. Firefighters told BFMTV that at least two thirds of that metal structure had come down, and that crews planned to search every stall and booth to rule out any lingering fire risk, work BFMTV expected to last at least until early afternoon.
Officials report no deaths. The police prefecture told franceinfo it had no victims to report at that stage, and de Bouvier said one firefighter had felt slightly unwell, franceinfo reports. France 24’s English report, with AFP, renders the same detail as one firefighter “lightly injured.” Ariel Weil, mayor of the Paris Centre district, said he felt relieved the fire stood under control and would not spread further, France 24 reports. “The worst has been avoided,” he said, in France 24’s translation. “No neighbouring buildings have been affected.”
Weil first broke the news on X shortly before 7 a.m., according to TF1 Info. His post, as embedded by franceinfo, reads in part, in French: “Feu maîtrisé mais marché totalement sinistré. Évitez le secteur de la rue de Bretagne.” ABC News translates those lines as “Fire brought under control but market totally devastated” and “Avoid the area around Rue de Bretagne.” Reuters reports Weil’s description of the market as “totally destroyed.” Emmanuel Grégoire, whom ABC News identifies as the city’s mayor, said a piece of the capital’s history went “up in smoke,” ABC News reports, and promised help for the traders: “We will find temporary locations for the businesses so that all their activities can be maintained.”
France 24, with AFP, says the market has existed since 1615 and takes its name from the red outfits worn by orphans at a hospital near the market until 1772; Reuters dates its founding to 1615, during the reign of Louis XIII. TF1 Info quotes the City of Paris website saying Marguerite de Navarre, sister of François I, founded that hospital in 1536, and that the market took the name in memory of those “Enfants Rouges” at the end of the 18th century. Franceinfo and France 3 say the market gained historic-monument status in 1982. TF1 Info adds that the run-down market closed in the 1990s and reopened years later after a major renovation. France 24 reports that Food & Wine ranked it fifth in the world for street food this year, behind eating spots in London, Bangkok, Lyon and Mexico City.
Culture minister Catherine Pégard voiced her emotion in a statement, TF1 Info reports. Writing in French, she described the market as heir to a history reaching back to the 17th century and as a place of life, memory and conviviality for Parisians and visitors from around the world, and sent her support to traders, artisans and restaurant owners whose work and tools, she wrote, the fire had partly wiped out, as well as to local residents. TF1 Info says she also praised the courage and professionalism of the firefighters and rescue crews.
The cause remains unknown, BFMTV and Reuters report. The Paris prosecutor’s office opened an investigation to determine the origin of the fire, TF1 Info reports, and BFMTV says the police prefecture’s central laboratory has gone to the site to look for the cause. Grégoire, quoted by ABC News, said: “An investigation has been launched to determine the cause of the fire.” This desk has seen no official statement on whether investigators suspect an accident or a crime, and has not read Le Monde, Le Parisien or the original AFP dispatch directly.
