A volunteer firefighter has been formally investigated for allegedly starting a devastating blaze in the Fontainebleau forest south of Paris.
Police are questioning the 18‑year‑old, who initially confessed to lighting twigs with a lighter and petrol before retracting the statement. A second 18‑year‑old is also under formal inquiry, the highest stage in French criminal proceedings that could lead to charges and trial.
The fire, which began last Sunday, consumed more than 2,000 hectares (about 5,000 acres) of woodland and forced roughly 1,000 people to evacuate. While containment efforts succeeded, the blaze has not yet been fully extinguished.
President Emmanuel Macron visited the area and warned the nation that there would be no leniency for arson. He noted that France has seen an unusual number of fires in a heatwave‑ridden year and that the 10 % of the forest burned is unprecedented since World War II.
The Fontainebleau forest, home to the Palace and Park of Fontainebleau, has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1981. The blaze also temporarily closed France’s main north‑south motorway.
According to the Copernicus climate service, Europe is warming twice as fast as the global average, fueling intense summer heatwaves and a surge in wildfires. Similar outbreaks have claimed lives in Spain’s forests and burned two miles of dry land in Scotland’s Cairngorms National Park.
France has recorded nearly 11,000 fires since the beginning of the year, underscoring the urgency of addressing both human and climate‑driven fire risk.
