Fire Near Paris Empties 900 Homes, Arson Suspected

Nunez said the fire began at about ten different places at once, which suggested that someone had lit it on purpose. An investigation continues. Two people have been arrested over the Fontainebleau fire, the BBC (the British Broadcasting Corporation) reported. Reports of the wider crackdown differ. The BBC said 59 people had been arrested nationwide over fires, while the Guardian reported 44 arrests since the start of summer. One thing is clear: the Paris region is under its highest heat alert, its third heatwave of the year.

The fire began two days before the Bastille Day holiday. It partly closed France's main north-south motorway and disrupted high-speed trains, leaving travellers in Paris facing long delays. The heat has also forced three nuclear power stations to shut down for a short time, so that warm water is not released into rivers that are already too hot. Organisers even shortened a stage of the Tour de France as temperatures neared 40C. Officials warned that putting the fire out completely could take days or weeks. Europe is warming about twice as fast as the rest of the world, the Copernicus climate service says.