Wildfires Ravage Over 1,300 Hectares of Historic Forest Near Paris

The fire broke out Sunday in the sprawling forest of Fontainebleau, a former royal hunting ground dotted with quiet villages today, about 60 kilometers (40 miles) southeast of the capital.

While the region was sweltered by the latest heatwave, a rare bushfire in the north of the country quickly spread across the UNESCO biosphere reserve, disrupting rail and road traffic during a busy holiday travel weekend.

Throughout the day, planes in the sky and fire crews on the ground were trying to extinguish the flames.

It covers about 1,200 hectares (about 3,000 acres), Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said Monday afternoon.

He said a second fire broke out on Monday afternoon and destroyed about 100 hectares. Approximately 1,000 people were evacuated in Fontainebleau and its surroundings.

Forest resident Clement Boher, 37, said he and his family had been on alert since he saw clouds of smoke rising through the forest on Sunday night.

“Like everyone else, we are waiting with our vehicles ready and our backpacks full. All we can do is wait,” he said.

The size of the fire led to the deployment of four Canadair aircraft, as well as two Dash aircraft and three water bomb helicopters, an unprecedented move in the greater Paris area.

Jean-Marc Sicard, commander of rescue operations, said a total of 187 water drops were carried out in the area on Monday evening.

He said about 600 firefighters were mobilized by nightfall and would take turns fighting the flames on the ground.

He said “the fire is still spreading” as weather conditions on Monday evening were “not very favorable” despite a “brief lull”.

– Farmers help –

Nunez said on an evening television news program that 59 people had been arrested for “intentional or accidental arson” across France and two in connection with the Fontainebleau fire.

President Emmanuel Macron said in X that all available resources were being mobilized to fight what he described as an “extraordinarily large forest fire”.

Authorities are investigating whether the fire was started intentionally, Nunez said.

“There were approximately 10 fire ignition points within a 1,000-metre perimeter, indicating that this may have been set up deliberately,” he said.

France is recovering from a third heatwave in less than three months, with fires continuing to break out in parts of the country over the past week.

It is the latest deadly episode of extreme weather, the increasing frequency of which scientists in recent years have linked to human-caused climate change.

Citizens rushed to help on Sunday night.

Farmers on tractors pulled water cisterns and pointed hoses at the fire.

Nurse Cindy Fuyard, 45, fled her home in the village of Le Vaudoue, then returned to give firefighters access to water in her swimming pool.

“With global warming, this was to be expected,” he said, referring to the northern wildfire.

– Trains continue –

The fire closed the A6 motorway heading southeast from Paris, according to Google Maps, and parts of the motorway remained closed on Monday.

But the national rail service said on Sunday it had repaired cables burned in the fire, allowing high-speed train services connecting the capital to the southeastern city of Lyon to continue as normal.

According to official figures, the country recorded more than 2,000 deaths during the June heat wave and more than 300 during high temperatures in late May.

Wildfires have burned nearly 25,000 hectares of land in France since the beginning of the year, almost as big as Edinburgh and twice as large as at the same time last year, civil security director-general Julien Marion said on Friday.

Temperatures were expected to remain high throughout France’s Bastille Day national holiday on Tuesday, according to the Meteo-France weather service.