Wildfire Near Paris Empties 900 Homes, Arson Suspected

Nunez said the blaze had ignited at around ten separate points, which "would suggest it could have been voluntary in origin", while an investigation continues. Two people have been arrested over the Fontainebleau fire, the BBC (the British Broadcasting Corporation) reported. Accounts of the crackdown differ: the BBC put arrests linked to fires nationwide at 59, while the Guardian, citing Nunez, reported 44 arrests since the start of summer. They also gave different figures for the area burned in France this year: 32,000 hectares according to Nunez on Monday, but 25,000 according to Julien Marion, the country's civil security chief, speaking on Friday. The backdrop is not disputed: the Paris region is under its highest heatwave alert, its third heatwave of the year.

The fire, which began two days before the Bastille Day holiday, partially closed France's main north-south motorway and disrupted high-speed rail, leaving travellers at the Gare de Lyon in Paris facing long delays. The heat has also forced three nuclear power stations to shut temporarily, to avoid discharging warm water into overheated rivers, and organisers shortened a stage of the Tour de France as temperatures neared 40C. Officials warned that fully containing the Fontainebleau blaze could take several days or even weeks. The town's mayor, Julien Gondard, said he was shocked and angry. "This exceptional area is consumed by flames, we've never seen anything like this," he said. Europe is warming twice as fast as the global average, the Copernicus climate service says, driving more intense wildfires.