A fire broke out around 9:30 am Monday morning in a Blanc-Mesnil warehouse (Seine-Saint-Denis), the mayor (Free!), Thierry Meignen, told AFP. He saw from his City Hall office a "big column of black smoke". "We were all very afraid, thinking that the fire came from the mask factory," he added, a factory which was due to start production this week. The fire, whose origin was not known at the time, was brought under control by the end of the morning and did not touch the factory, the firemen said.
No injuries, property damage
The fire, which started in a "1,000 m2 warehouse" located right next to the mask factory, left no one injured, just "property damage", Lieutenant-Colonel Claire told AFP Boët of the Paris Fire Brigade. A hundred firefighters were dispatched to the scene to deal with the incident. The warehouse that caught fire belongs to the company BMS, which stores textiles and office furniture, added the mayor.
Large fire started by a warehouse near Blanc-Mesnil. Thank you to @ PompiersFR @ PompiersParispic.twitter.com / 4FBxwkHrY7
- Jana.s.world (@jana_jykm) May 18, 2020Warehouse adjoining a new mask factory
The adjoining factory, built in a few weeks by the Chinese businessman Hsueh Sheng Wang, had been officially inaugurated Thursday by the president of the Ile-de-France region, Valérie Pécresse (Libres! Ex-LR). She was to start production of FFP1 and FFP2 masks this week. Ultimately, "a million" masks must be produced there daily, according to Hsueh Sheng Wang.
Figure of the Franco-Chinese community, Hsueh Sheng Wang, whose career path is admired by some, also arouses suspicion, especially since he has been targeted since 2014 by a preliminary investigation by the National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF) for " money laundering "and" tax evasion ".