"Paris has declared war on smokers"

Indeed. The Metro summarises:

Bureaucrats in the French capital want to ban gas-powered heaters within two years. Electric patio heaters would be permitted but taxed. Green party campaigner Michel Lebrun described gas burners as ‘the 4x4s of patio heaters’ (1).

He added: ‘People who want to sit on terraces when it’s cold should simply put a jumper or coat on.’ (2)

Lyne Cohen-Solal, head of trade regulation at the city council, said the measures were about saving the environment. ‘The most powerful gas heaters are also a fire hazard because café terraces are invariably surrounded by flammable plastic sheeting,’ (3) she said, ‘We are proposing to remove the plastic sheeting.’ (4)

Café owners say the crackdown could spell disaster. Colette Aswad, owner of the Bar le Carrefour in central Paris said: ‘I have invested heavily in gas heaters and terracing to create a place for smokers to sit.’

1) Not true. A patio heater uses less than a tenth as much fuel per hour as an average car travelling at average speed.

2) Or go inside to smoke, of course.

3) Yes, we hear all the time about these terrible fires outside cafés and pubs.

4) Woah! In her addled mind, the equation is:

Patio heater + plastic sheeting = fire

Even if that were true (which it isn't), it would be quite sufficient to either

a) Remove 'patio heater' from the equation and leave the plastic sheeting; or

b) Remove 'plastic sheeting from the equation and to leave the patio heaters; or indeed

c) Replace the plastic sheeting with glass windows and to leave the patio heaters.