PARIS — A historic heat wave has forced the city of Paris to turn toward big business to provide its firefighters with the resources they need.
Officials from center-left Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire’s cabinet have been reaching out to large-scale food retailers to mobilize stocks over fears that the Parisian pompiers, who in France are often the first responders in case of emergencies, would run out of ice cubes needed to cool down victims of heat stroke.
The plea was confirmed by two industry professionals, granted anonymity to speak freely.
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Alexandre Bompard, CEO of Carrefour, one of the main French supermarket chains, confirmed in a LinkedIn post that his company had donated 4 tons of ice to the city’s firefighters.
