Wildfires ravage over 1,300ha of historic forest near Paris

ARBONNE-LA-FORET, France - France on July 13 battled two fires that scorched over 1,300ha in a forest south of Paris on July 13, as police arrested two people suspected of arson.

The fire erupted on July 12 in the sprawling Fontainebleau forest, a former royal hunting estate that today is dotted with quiet villages, about 60km south-east of the capital.

As the region sweltered through its latest heatwave, the wildfire – rare in the north of the country – quickly spread across the UNESCO biosphere reserve, disrupting rail and road traffic during a busy holiday travel long weekend.

Throughout the day, aircraft in the skies and firefighters on the ground were trying to douse the flames.

By the afternoon of July 13, it had raced across almost 1,200ha, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said.

He said a second fire broke out on the afternoon of July 13 and had ravaged about 100ha.

Around 1,000 people in and around Fontainebleau had been evacuated.

One of the two suspects arrested is an 18-year-old man without a criminal record.

His hands were covered in soot and he had a lighter when he was detained, according to a source close to the case.

Clement Boher, a 37-year-old resident, said he and his family had been on alert since he saw plumes of smoke rise about the forest on the night of July 12.

“Like everyone else, we’re on standby, vehicles ready and a backpack packed. All we can do is wait,” he said.

The scale of the fire led to the deployment of four Canadair aircraft – an unprecedented move in the greater Paris region – as well as two Dash planes and three water-bombing helicopters.

A total of 187 water drops were carried out, said the commander of the rescue operations, Jean-Marc Sicard, on site on the evening of July 13.

At nightfall, around 600 firefighters remained mobilised and would be taking turns to fight the flames on the ground, he said.

“The fire is still spreading” because the weather conditions were “not very favourable” on the evening of July 13, despite “a brief lull,” he said.

A fire truck sprays fire retardant during a fire in the Fontainebleau Forest in Noisy-sur-Ecole, near Paris, on July 13. PHOTO: AFP

Farmers help

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

President Emmanuel Macron said on X that all available resources had been deployed to fight what he described as “an exceptionally large wildfire”.

Nunez said authorities were investigating wheterh the fire was started intentionally.

“There were about 10 fire ignition points within a perimeter of 1,000 metres, which suggests that it could have been deliberately set,” he said.

France is weathering a third heatwave in less than three months, with fires raging in several parts of the country over the past week.

It is the latest such deadly episode of extreme weather, the increasing frequency of which in recent decades scientists have linked to man-made climate change.

On the night of July 12, residents chipped in to help.

Farmers in tractors tugged water cisterns and aimed hoses at the blaze.

Cindy Fuyard, a 45-year-old nurse, fled her home in the village of Le Vaudoue then returned to give firefighters access to the water in her swimming pool.

“With global warming, it was to be expected,” she said, referring to the forest fire so far north.

The A6 highway is closed to traffic as a plume of smoke rises into the sky from a forest fire in the Fontainebleau Forest. PHOTO: AFP

Trains resume

The fire shut the A6 motorway that leads out of Paris to the south-east and parts of the highway remained closed on July 13, according to Google Maps.

But the national railway service said it had repaired cables burnt by the fire on July 12, allowing it to resume normal services for fast trains connecting the capital to the south-eastern city of Lyon.

The country recorded more than 2,000 excess deaths during the June heatwave, and 300 during the high temperatures in late May, according to official figures.

Since the start of the year, wildfires have scorched some 25,000ha of land in France – an area nearly as big as Edinburgh and twice as much as during the same period in 2025, director-general of civil security Julien Marion said on July 10.

Temperatures were expected to remain high through France’s Bastille Day national holiday on July 14, according to the Meteo-France weather service. AFP