Noisy-Sur-Ecole (France), July 14: Hundreds of firefighters battled two blazes on Tuesday in the Fontainebleau forest south of Paris that have consumed nearly 2,000 hectares (about 4,900 acres) and forced the evacuation of 1,000 people, local authorities said.
Bigger fires have been ravaging areas of southern France, but the Fontainebleau fire is exceptionally close to the densely populated region surrounding the French capital.
Water-dumping planes repeatedly dived into the Seine River to scoop up water and douse the fires — the first time such aircraft had ever been used to fight fires in the Paris region, the regional fire chief said.
Smoke blanketed the treetops and hung in the air on Tuesday as authorities sought to get the fires under control.
No deaths or injuries have been reported.
Two arrested in connection with Fontainebleau fires
Two people have been arrested in connection with the Fontainebleau fires, and two others arrested for fires elsewhere in France, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said Tuesday on BFM television. He didn’t provide details.
The heat wave that has scorched France in recent days, the third already this year, is starting to subside. The national weather service expects to end its heat wave red alert warnings starting Wednesday, though thunderstorm warnings are now in place in several regions.
Spanish authorities identify some victims of the deadly fire
Four days after a fire ravaged a remote expat community in southern Spain, judicial authorities have identified 10 of the 13 fatalities using biological samples.
Most of the deceased, all of whom were adults, are foreign nationals. They include five British citizens — including a woman who died in the hospital — three Belgian nationals, a French woman, and a Spanish national, judicial authorities said in a statement late Monday.
Ten people remain unaccounted for.
The Los Gallardos fire affected some 70 square kilometres (27 square miles) of forest and farmland — an area larger than Manhattan.
Spain is experiencing extreme heat, which, combined with wind and little rainfall, is creating the ideal conditions for small wildfires to grow unchecked.
Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent, with temperatures increasing twice as fast as the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. (AP)
