Wildfire of exceptional scale burns near Paris

A large wildfire swept through the Fontainebleau forest south-east of Paris, forcing evacuations, disrupting holiday traffic and drawing firefighting aircraft to a region already sweltering through its third heatwave since May.

Officials described the blaze as “very virulent” and of “exceptional scale.” It began late Sunday afternoon in the sprawling forest about 40 miles, or 60 kilometers, from the French capital. By early Monday, officials said it had raced across about 800 hectares, or 1,900 acres, and was still spreading.

Two firefighting planes were deployed to the Paris region to battle the flames, though aerial operations were suspended at nightfall. Two firefighting helicopters and an observation aircraft were also deployed, Eric Brocardi, of France’s national federation of firefighters, said, according to Agence France-Presse.

“The aim is to save lives and property,” Brocardi was quoted as saying.

About 400 firefighters were working to contain the fire, the local Seine-et-Marne fire service said. Around 15 homes were evacuated in the nearby village of Vaudoue, and firefighters were defending several other towns in the area.

The fire partially closed a main highway during one of France’s busiest summer travel weekends, just ahead of the July 14 national holiday and at the start of the first major getaway period of the summer. Officials said traffic was disrupted on highways in the area, including the country’s main north-south route. An earlier fire also blocked a highway running east from Paris.

Rail travel was also affected. A high-speed train line to the south of France was disrupted, and French rail company SNCF said Sunday evening that travelers faced delays of up to six hours for trains arriving at or leaving from Paris’s Gare de Lyon.

Brocardi said it was the first time firefighting planes had been sent from the normally drier and hotter south of France to tackle fires in the Paris region, according to the BBC.

The Paris region is enduring its third heatwave this year. Across Europe, temperature records have been broken in several countries this summer, and the heat has increased the risk of fires. The latest French heatwave has forced the temporary shutdown of three nuclear power stations to avoid discharging warm cooling water into overheated waterways, the BBC reported. Organizers of the Tour de France also shortened Sunday’s stage by 30 kilometers, or 19 miles, as temperatures neared 40 Celsius.

The heatwaves have been linked to thousands of excess deaths, according to estimates in France, Belgium, Britain and Spain cited by CBS News. The World Weather Attribution group of scientists said the June heatwaves would have been “virtually impossible” without climate change.

Other parts of Europe have also faced severe wildfire conditions. In Spain, at least 13 people were killed by Thursday’s wildfire in Almeria, one of the country’s deadliest ever, the BBC reported. In the United Kingdom, emergency services declared a large wildfire in north Wales a major incident on Sunday as firefighters tackled fires across England and Wales.