NOISY-SUR-ÉCOLE, France – French President Emmanuel Macron has pledged zero tolerance for arson following devastating wildfires that have scorched thousands of hectares across the country, including a historic forest near Paris.

Dozens of people have been arrested nationwide for starting fires either deliberately or by accident as France endures multiple intense heatwaves since May that have created dangerously dry conditions.

Around 35 000 hectares have been impacted by fires, exceeding the damage from the entire 2025 fire season, according to authorities.

Worst outbreak since World War II

France “has never faced so many outbreaks of fire across the country since the end of World War II”, Macron said during a visit to the Fontainebleau forest near Paris, which has seen more than 2 000 hectares scorched since 5 July.

“Here, as everywhere else in France, there will be zero tolerance for arsonists because it is, of course, our national territory that is under attack every time a fire breaks out”, Macron added.

Around 1 000 residents were forced to evacuate as the fires spread through the forest, located about 60 kilometres southeast of Paris, in a rare blaze affecting the country’s north.

Construction workers charged

Two workers from a construction company were charged on Thursday and placed under judicial supervision for unintentionally starting the first fire in the Fontainebleau forest. Nearly a tenth of the forest has burned since Sunday.

Repair work on a motorway guardrail and a spark from an angle grinder likely set fire to the vegetation and then to the forest bordering the A6, which links Paris to the eastern city of Lyon, said Fontainebleau public prosecutor Diane Ngomsik on Thursday.

The two workers have been charged with “unintentional destruction by fire resulting from a breach of a safety or precautionary obligation”, while the company’s manager has been given the status of assisted witness.

Firefighters battle ongoing blaze

Some 950 firefighters were still working on Thursday trying to stamp out the blaze.

“As on previous days, we’re still seeing the wind pick up and temperatures rise, which causes flare-ups of the fire here and there”, said Sebastien Avenel, deputy director of the Seine-et-Marne fire service.

On Wednesday, two men (18), one of them a volunteer firefighter, suspected of deliberately starting fires in two other locations in the area, were placed under formal investigation and remanded in custody.

Macron announced a funding drive to raise money to rehabilitate and protect the forest, a UNESCO biosphere reserve.

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