A total of 308 people have been detained across France as part of investigations into a recent wave of wildfires, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on Friday, with two-thirds of them suspected of "deliberate arson".
Issued on: 31/07/2026 - 14:37Modified: 31/07/2026 - 14:41
3 min Reading time
The announcement came as firefighters reported that the massive blaze near Bordeaux had stabilised, allowing some evacuees to begin returning home. "That is obviously a very high figure, especially considering that two-thirds of the arrests are for criminal acts, namely intentional arson," Nunez told RTL radio on Friday. Of those individuals, 33 have been incarcerated – "either in pre-trial detention awaiting judgment or already convicted," sometimes receiving "actual prison time," he added. Nine out of ten fires are caused by human activity, with lightning accounting for a significant proportion of the remaining 10 percent. According to preliminary investigation findings, the season's largest fires in France were accidental in origin. The fire engulfing 42,000 hectares near Bordeaux, in southwestern France, may have been sparked by brush-clearing work beneath a power line, carried out by a contractor for Enedis. Climate change 'exacerbating' drought across Europe, scientists say The simultaneous fire in the Landes region, near Biscarrosse, was ignited by a vehicle fire on a departmental road. As for the fire that ravaged part of the Fontainebleau forest, southeast of Paris, the Fontainebleau public prosecutor said that repair work on a motorway guardrail – specifically a spark from a petrol-powered angle grinder – reportedly ignited the vegetation and, subsequently, the forest bordering the A6 motorway. Optimistic day Early on Friday, authorities announced that the massive fire near Bordeaux had stabilised, thanks to "favourable" overnight conditions. The improvement followed what Gironde prefect Sophie Brocas described as an "optimistic day" on Thursday, adding: "the feeling that we are beginning to return to normal life." Firefighting chief Marc Vermeulen said hotspots in the wildfire zone had dropped from six to three since Thursday morning, but remained cautious.
