Smoke Fills Paris Sky After Fire In Tourist Area

PARIS (AP) — A fire at a construction site on the grounds of an 18th-century Paris hotel sent clouds of black smoke into the sky, visible more than a mile (two kilometers) from the heart of the city's main tourist district.

Fire department spokesman Lt. Col. Frederic Grosjean said the blaze Wednesday afternoon engulfed a four-story temporary construction building involved with repairs on the historic Hotel Bourbon de Conde. About 100 firefighters were deployed. He said the fire began on a motorcycle nearby.

Grosjean says the national historic building, less than a kilometer from the Eiffel Tower, is believed to be owned by an unspecified Bahraini.

He says no injuries were immediately reported and firefighters had the blaze under control. The historic building was not damaged.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.