Multiple arrests following Fontainebleau forest fires
Individuals have been arrested following forest fires in the Paris region. Police are investigating the causes of these blazes, which have destroyed hundreds of hectares.
Multiple arrests following Fontainebleau forest fires
The judicial authorities of Seine-et-Marne have announced the arrest of several individuals in connection with fires that struck the Fontainebleau forest and its surroundings in mid-July 2026. These statements were reported by the news channel BFMTV.
Among those held in police custody, a young man aged 20 years and serving as a volunteer firefighter in the municipality admitted to starting a fire at Arbonne-la-Forêt. He allegedly used a lighter and an inflammable liquid to set vegetation alight. This individual had no police record.
Another suspect of the same age admitted to causing a fire unintentionally by crushing a lit cigarette. He too had no criminal history. Investigators found no connection between these two young men. Their placement in police custody was extended beyond the initial duration.
A third man, born in 1975 and with no prior dealings with the justice system, is also among those arrested. A fourth police custody procedure is under way concerning a 20-year-old man, already convicted for traffic offences, who is suspected of being responsible for another fire near the pheasantry.
The Fontainebleau public prosecutor's office has opened a judicial investigation for wilful arson of woodland likely to endanger human life. The flames devastated approximately 1,600 hectares at Noisy-sur-École and a further 450 hectares at a second site. The emergency services, numbering more than eight hundred firefighters and water-bombing aircraft, are continuing their operations to fully bring the fires under control.
Source: Google News LU FR