A fire described as being of "exceptional magnitude" has been raging since Sunday evening in the western part of the Fontainebleau forest, in Seine-et-Marne. Some 800 hectares were consumed by the flames shortly after midnight on Monday, requiring the deployment of unprecedented aerial resources in the Île-de-France region.
The fire broke out in the town of Noisy-sur-École, near the Fontainebleau forest, on the night of Sunday 12 to Monday 13 July 2026. Shortly after midnight, firefighters estimated that around 800 hectares had already been affected by the flames, a provisional assessment that could change.
Faced with the scale of the disaster, authorities deployed two water-bombing aircraft, a first for an intervention in the Paris region. Some 400 firefighters were mobilized on the ground to try to contain the fire's spread in this forest massif, one of the largest in France in the immediate vicinity of the capital.
The fire occurred amid a persistent heatwave: France is experiencing its third heatwave in two months, with 24 departments placed on red alert. These extreme weather conditions favor the rapid spread of forest fires, including in areas previously less exposed to this type of risk.
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