Three French Volunteer Firefighters Die in Barn Blaze Collapse

PARIS (AP) -- Three volunteer firefighters died Monday while fighting a blaze that engulfed a barn in central France, local officials said.

The firefighters were killed as a 10-meter (33-foot) wall collapsed on them outside a blazing barn in the town of Metz-le-Comte, said Jean-Francois Moniotte of the regional prefecture.

The fire in the barn, which stored hay bales, may have been aggravated by a dry spell that has hit much of the country.

The firefighters' identities were not immediately released.