Minor fire produces menacing black smoke over Paris

PARIS – A minor blaze in Paris has sent dramatic black smoke over the historic Montparnasse neighbourhood and left one person slightly injured.=

Paris fire service spokesman Clement Cognon said the fire was under control soon after it broke out Wednesday morning in the 14th arrondissement, or district, in southern Paris. He said it appeared to have broken out at a construction site in a courtyard.

French firefighters are facing more serious challenges in southern regions hit by recent wildfires fanned by winds and unusually dry, hot weather, which have caused mass evacuations.