Firefighters Contain Two Wildfires Near Paris That Destroyed Over 2,000 Hectares of Forest

French firefighters have contained two wildfires that burned more than 2,000 hectares of the historic Fontainebleau forest southeast of Paris.

• About 850 firefighters deployed four water-bombing aircraft and three helicopters to combat the two fires, with around 300 water drops executed over 48 hours.
• Four people, including a volunteer firefighter, remain in custody on suspicion of arson, with the volunteer confessing to igniting branches with a lighter and gasoline.
• The fires forced around 1,000 local residents to evacuate and closed a major highway linking Paris to southeastern France.
• Smoke from the fires was detected approximately 100 kilometers away near Orléans, as France experiences its third major heatwave in less than two months.