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French officials deployed two firefighting planes to the Paris region on July 13 2026 to tackle a wildfire officials described as virulent and of exceptional scale in the Fontainebleau forest about 60 kilometres southeast of the capital. The blaze had already scorched 800 hectares and continued spreading through the former royal hunting grounds now home to quiet villages according to updates from national fire authorities. Eric Brocardi of France’s national federation of firefighters confirmed the aircraft were called in as crews worked to contain the flames and protect lives and property.
It marked the first time firefighting planes normally based in the drier hotter south had been sent to the Paris region Brocardi told Agence France-Presse. Two firefighting helicopters and an observation aircraft were also deployed to support ground teams battling the fire. The national federation of firefighters provided the assessment of the operation’s priority to save lives and property.
The fire partially closed the country’s main north-south highway and disrupted traffic during the first major summer holiday weekend according to transport authorities. Earlier a separate blaze had blocked a highway running east from Paris and interrupted a high-speed train line to southern France. French rail operator SNCF reported delays of up to six hours for services at Paris’s Gare de Lyon on the evening of July 12.
The Paris region was enduring its third heatwave of 2026 with temperatures nearing 40 degrees Celsius a pattern that has broken records across Europe this summer. French authorities temporarily shut down three nuclear power stations to prevent discharge of warm cooling water into overheated rivers. Tour de France organisers shortened one stage by 30 kilometres in response to the extreme heat.
France has already recorded a severe start to its 2026 wildfire season with more than 14 500 hectares burned across the country by early July according to national forestry assessments. In southern France thousands of residents were evacuated from multiple blazes in June and early July where water-bombing aircraft and hundreds of firefighters were mobilised. The Fontainebleau fire comes as similar heat-driven incidents have affected other parts of Europe including a deadly wildfire in Spain that killed at least 13 people.
No casualties have been reported from the Fontainebleau blaze as operations focused on containment and traffic management. Brocardi emphasised the coordinated aerial and ground response aimed at limiting further spread in the forested area. French civil protection services continue to monitor the situation amid ongoing high temperatures.
