Second day out for the crew. The fight against a massive wildfire south of France’s capital isn’t letting up. Not by a long shot.
The Fontainebleau forest is burning. Officials call it virulent. They use the phrase “exceptional scale” too. It’s not hyperbole when the main north-south highway gets partially closed down because trees are catching fire.
Laurent Nunez, the Interior minister, suspects arson. Why? The math looks bad. Roughly ten ignition points scattered across just a 1,000-meter perimeter. You don’t get ten starts in one spot by accident. Nunez thinks someone did it on purpose.
“There were about 10 fire ignition points… which suggests that it could have been deliberately” set, he told the AFP agency.
Arrests are already happening. Two people copped to “deliberate or accidental” charges in this region alone. Nationally, 59 folks were grabbed across the country for other fire-related crimes.
Here’s the thing nobody expected. Firefighting planes usually operate in the dry south. Never before had they been scrambled from the Mediterranean end of the map to help out Paris. Eric Brocardi of the national firefighter federation confirmed it. It’s historic.
Two helicopters and an observer plane joined the effort.
The heat is oppressive. This is the third heatwave this summer for the Paris region. Record-breaking temperatures have swept across Europe. Everything feels dryer. Volatile.
President Macron stepped in. He wrote about a fire of “exceptional magnitude.” Standard political phrasing, sure. He mentioned solidarity. Praised the firefighters. Said every resource is online.
But planes don’t fly back until the smoke clears.
Does anyone really know if the arrestees are guilty or just caught in the crossfire of a heat-driven crisis?
No one knows. The fire is still burning. The summer heat isn’t leaving either.
