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French police detain 59 over nationwide wildfires, 2 linked to Fontainebleau blaze
By Xinhua Published: Jul 15, 2026 09:50 AM
This photo taken on July 14, 2026 shows trees shrouded in smoke from a wildfire in Seine-et-Marne, France. French police have detained 59 people across the country in connection with wildfires, including two suspects linked to the blaze in the Fontainebleau forest in Seine-et-Marne department, southeast of Paris, French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on Monday. The wildfire in the Fontainebleau forest broke out on Sunday evening and continued to spread on Monday. (Photo: Xinhua)

This photo taken on July 14, 2026 shows trees shrouded in smoke from a wildfire in Seine-et-Marne, France. French police have detained 59 people across the country in connection with wildfires, including two suspects linked to the blaze in the Fontainebleau forest in Seine-et-Marne department, southeast of Paris, French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on Monday. The wildfire in the Fontainebleau forest broke out on Sunday evening and continued to spread on Monday. (Photo: Xinhua)


This photo taken on July 14, 2026 shows a closed road due to a wildfire in Seine-et-Marne, France. French police have detained 59 people across the country in connection with wildfires, including two suspects linked to the blaze in the Fontainebleau forest in Seine-et-Marne department, southeast of Paris, French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on Monday. The wildfire in the Fontainebleau forest broke out on Sunday evening and continued to spread on Monday. (Photo: Xinhua)

This photo taken on July 14, 2026 shows a closed road due to a wildfire in Seine-et-Marne, France. French police have detained 59 people across the country in connection with wildfires, including two suspects linked to the blaze in the Fontainebleau forest in Seine-et-Marne department, southeast of Paris, French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on Monday. The wildfire in the Fontainebleau forest broke out on Sunday evening and continued to spread on Monday. (Photo: Xinhua)



Fire trucks pass in front of the Palace of Fontainebleau in Seine-et-Marne, France, on July 14, 2026. French police have detained 59 people across the country in connection with wildfires, including two suspects linked to the blaze in the Fontainebleau forest in Seine-et-Marne department, southeast of Paris, French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on Monday. The wildfire in the Fontainebleau forest broke out on Sunday evening and continued to spread on Monday. (Photo: Xinhua)

Fire trucks pass in front of the Palace of Fontainebleau in Seine-et-Marne, France, on July 14, 2026. French police have detained 59 people across the country in connection with wildfires, including two suspects linked to the blaze in the Fontainebleau forest in Seine-et-Marne department, southeast of Paris, French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on Monday. The wildfire in the Fontainebleau forest broke out on Sunday evening and continued to spread on Monday. (Photo: Xinhua)



This photo taken on July 14, 2026 shows the Palace of Fontainebleau in Seine-et-Marne, France, with smoke from a wildfire rising in the distance. French police have detained 59 people across the country in connection with wildfires, including two suspects linked to the blaze in the Fontainebleau forest in Seine-et-Marne department, southeast of Paris, French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on Monday. (Photo: Xinhua)

This photo taken on July 14, 2026 shows the Palace of Fontainebleau in Seine-et-Marne, France, with smoke from a wildfire rising in the distance. French police have detained 59 people across the country in connection with wildfires, including two suspects linked to the blaze in the Fontainebleau forest in Seine-et-Marne department, southeast of Paris, French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on Monday. (Photo: Xinhua)



French police have detained 59 people across the country in connection with wildfires, including two suspects linked to the blaze in the Fontainebleau forest in Seine-et-Marne department, southeast of Paris, French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on Monday.

Speaking on French TV channel France 2, Nunez said the two suspects in the Fontainebleau case were detained over "intentional or accidental fire-setting." Across the country, 59 people have been detained in connection with wildfire cases, including 30 adults and 29 minors, he added.

The wildfire in the Fontainebleau forest broke out on Sunday evening and continued to spread on Monday. According to Nunez, the main fire had burned about 1,200 hectares. A second fire broke out about 5 km from the main blaze shortly before 3 p.m. local time (1300 GMT) on Monday and had already spread across around 100 hectares.

In a report released on Monday, Meteo-France said temperatures had continued to rise over the weekend and remained very high at the start of this week. It warned that the combination of extreme heat and dry soils intensifies an exceptional wildfire risk across the country.

Earlier Monday, Nunez said 32,000 hectares had burned in France since the beginning of the year, exceeding the total area burned during the entire 2025 wildfire season.