French firefighters have called in aircraft to combat a 800‑hectare wildfire in the Fontainebleau forest, roughly 40 kilometres southeast of Paris.
The blaze, described by officials as "virulent" and of "exceptional scale", has forced a partial closure of the Motorway A6, a key north‑south route, leading to traffic congestion on the first major weekend break of the summer. High‑speed trains at Paris’s Gare de Lyon are experiencing delays of up to six hours, as the fire spreads across forestland and nearby villages.
For the first time, firefighting planes from the traditionally drier south of France were dispatched to the capital’s environs; pilot crews were supplemented by two helicopters and an observation aircraft, according to the national federation of firefighters, Eric Brocardi.
"The aim is to save lives and property," Brocardi told reporters, noting that the urgent response is designed to prevent the fire from compromising the highway and surrounding settlements.
The incident coincides with a series of record heatwaves across Europe; the French summer has seen the shut‑down of three nuclear power stations to avert the release of warm cooling water into overheated waterways. Concurrently, organisers of the Tour de France shortened a Sunday stage by 30 kilometres as temperatures approached 40°C.
A similar summer wildfire tragedy in Spain resulted in at least 13 fatalities, while a large blaze in northern Wales was declared a major incident on Sunday, illustrating the growing prevalence of extreme fire conditions.
