Teenage firefighter arrested after suspected role in major forest fire near Paris
The fires forced around 1,000 local residents to leave their homes as they spread through the forest, while the A6 motorway linking Paris with the south-east of the country was shut
An 18-year-old volunteer firefighter has been placed under formal investigation and remanded in custody in France over suspicions he started a fire in the historic Fontainebleau forest.
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The teenager is among six people arrested as part of the investigation into the wildfires, which have burned through more than 2,000 hectares of woodland around 60 kilometres south-east of Paris.
According to prosecutor Diane Ngomsik, the suspect initially admitted “setting fire to twigs with a lighter and petrol” before later withdrawing that confession.
The fires forced around 1,000 local residents to leave their homes as they spread through the forest, while the A6 motorway linking Paris with the south-east of the country was shut.
Local authorities said on Tuesday evening that hundreds of firefighters had succeeded in containing the flames, although the fire had not yet been fully extinguished.
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For the first time, Canadair aircraft on Monday skimmed the River Seine to fill their tanks, attempting to contain a blaze that turned the sky black.
As many as 900 people were evacuated from their homes.
Today, French President Emmanuel Macron met with forest police and firefighters following the fires at the firefighter's central command site in Noisy-sur-Ecole, near Fontainebleau.
France has been hit by another heatwave in recent days, with high temperatures helping to fuel wildfires across the country.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said 32,000 hectares of land had been affected by fires since the start of the year - more than during the whole of the 2025 fire season.
Europe is enduring its third heatwave of the summer, with tinder-dry vegetation and high temperatures fuelling blazes from the Iberian Peninsula to France.
Many scientists say climate change is making wildfires more frequent and difficult to combat.Nunez said 59 people have been arrested across France on suspicion of starting fires across the country.
Around half were adults and half minors, with some repeat offenders, he said.