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The fire in the Fontainebleau forest in Seine-et-Marne is still not under control. While the main blaze, which began burning late on Sunday afternoon, has already swept through nearly 1,500 hectares (15 square kilometres), a second fire broke out on Monday shortly before 3 pm (CEST) near the town of Fontainebleau and its 15,000 residents, and by 9 am on Tuesday morning had reduced 300 to 400 hectares of land to ashes.
Around 850 firefighters and 200 ground vehicles have been deployed. Given the severity of the situation, four Canadair aircraft, two Dash water bombers and three water-bombing helicopters are expected during the day. It is a first for the Île-de-France region.
Seine-et-Marne prefect, Pierre Ory said at his latest press conference it was, “a fire of a completely exceptional nature and scale, and resources that are just as exceptional, utterly unusual. As you can see for yourselves, Dash aircraft and Canadairs flying over the Fontainebleau forest. Until now, that was something we had obviously never seen.”
According to local authorities, the urban area of Fontainebleau is not under threat from the fires. But as a precaution, about a thousand people have been evacuated, including residents of a campsite on the edge of the forest. The busy A6 motorway remains closed near the town.
For his part, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, who had said the previous day that the fire might be of criminal origin, confirmed that two people had been taken into custody. One of the suspects is an 18-year-old man, who was arrested yesterday at 4 pm. He was found carrying a lighter, and his hands were covered in soot.
Additional sources • AFP
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