A roof over their heads

Black smoke billowed up from the skyline off to the west, we noticed, as we crossed the Pont de Bir Hakeim yesterday.  Today's French newspaper, Le Parisien, tells me that the smoke came from a violent fire in the tail end of the 16th arrondissement, where it borders on the Parc des Princes, the stadium that is home to the Paris Saint Germain soccer team.

The largest Statue of Liberty in Paris is here, at the southwestern end of the Île aux Cygnes,
as seen from the Pont de Grenelle.

Two inhabitants of the building went to the hospital for mild smoke inhalation injuries, and one fireman was lightly wounded by molten zinc falling from the roof.  Molten zinc?  Evidently, these ubiquitous metal roofs that I though were almost fireproof are anything but.  Zinc melts in a fire!

I watched the video after I read the news article.  In the video, I could see the bright orange flames licking through holes in the roof where the metal had melted away.  According to www.roofpoint.org, "Zinc roofs can last for up to 100 years. The low melting point of zinc means that it is an environmentally-friendly material, requiring only 1/4 the energy to produce roofing panels compared to copper or steel."

The Marché Gros-la-Fontaine in the 16th arrondissement
is open on Tuesday and Friday mornings, on the Rue Gros and
the Rue Jean de la Fontaine.

In coastal areas like the place where Tom and I live, metal roofs are more commonly made from aluminum and steel.  Galvanized steel roofing has a layer of zinc for protection.

The cause of yesterday's fire in the 16th arrondissement has not yet been determined.  Its origin was in a top-floor apartment in an 8-story building that, judging from the video, is about a hundred years old.

About 40 people were evacuated from the building, without difficulty.  I hope they will be able to move back into their homes soon.  With the entire roof structure burned away, this might be a challenge.  But a temporary roof structure was placed on Notre Dame de Paris quite quickly.

I have every confidence that the French can do this efficiently for those residents of that unfortunate building damaged in yesterday's fire.

Today I decided to walk into the 16th again, this time to visit yet another open air market, the Marché Gros-la-Fontaine.  It is only a 30-minute walk from our apartment -- one hour round trip.  It is a nice market, but not as big as the Grenelle market.  Like all these markets, there are a few stalls that sell apparel instead of food.  This Gros-la-Fontaine market has an usually large number and variety of socks for sale. Socks.

The best part of walking to this market is that the bridge I use to get there is the Pont de Grenelle, the bridge that goes to the île aux Cygnes, right past the largest Statue of Liberty in Paris.

This morning was a spectacular time to see Lady Liberty.   The air is light and fresh, and the sky is that incredible French blue.