According to an article on L'Express.com, the headquarters of the Grand Orient of France on rue Cadet in Paris' 9th arrondissement caught fire at approximately 5:00PM on Saturday. Later reports indicated that the blaze started in an electrical cabinet. There were no casualties, but the building was extensively damaged.The Grand Orient of France is the largest obedience in France with about 50,000 members, but is not recognized as regular by mainstream North American Freemasons. There are approximately 140,000 Freemasons in France, belonging to a dozen different denominations, most of which are strictly male.
