ARBONNE-LA-FORET, France: French officials rushed two firefighting planes to the Paris region Sunday, after a fire erupted south of the French capital, disrupting traffic during a busy summer travel weekend and piling more misery on a region sweltering through its latest heatwave.
The fire that swept through 800 hectares of the Fontainebleau forest, southeast of Paris, "could" have been "deliberately started," Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez stated at the scene on Monday.
"There were about ten points of origin for the fire within a 1,000-meter radius, suggesting it could be a case of arson," he told the press during a visit to Noisy-sur-École (Seine-et-Marne), near the site of the blaze. "We are hopeful we can contain the fire today," the minister added.
The fire, which officials described as “very virulent” and of “exceptional scale,” began late afternoon in the sprawling Fontainebleau forest about 60 kilometers (40 miles) south-east of the capital, a onetime royal hunting preserve that today is dotted with quiet villages.
And with nightfall, firefighting aircraft had been forced to suspend their operations.
