Fire in Fontainebleau forest south of Paris prompts evacuations

A fire in the historic Fontainebleau forest south of Paris has prompted evacuations of residential neighbourhoods and disrupted train and road traffic.

It was among several wildfires in western Europe as the region bakes in its third red-alert heatwave this year.

In Spain, 10 people were still unaccounted for on Monday from a fire that ripped through a remote southern community last week, killing 13 people in one of the country’s deadliest blazes.

The Fontainebleau forest fire is unusual for its proximity to the French capital — about 42 miles. The region hosts the Fontainebleau Chateau favoured by Napoleon and is popular with visitors from Paris and beyond.

President Emmanuel Macron said all necessary means were being deployed to fight the fire of ″exceptional scale”.

Two water-dumping planes were deployed over the area along with hundreds of firefighters, regional fire service spokesman Paul Laurain told public broadcaster France-Info.

The head of the regional administration, Pierre Ory, told French media that an investigation is under way and that arson was being considered a possibility.

A new fire has broken out in another section of the forest, he said. The initial fire is still not contained and is continuing to spread at a moderate rate.

“Winds are turning, which is significantly complicating the work of the firefighters,” he added.

Trains to and from the capital’s Gare de Lyon train station were disrupted late on Sunday but were returning to normal on Monday morning. A section of the busy A6 highway leading south east of Paris was shut down because of fire risk.

Large fires in southern France have already scorched thousands of acres since last week, disrupting the Tour de France cycling race and stretching firefighting resources.

France is experiencing the peak of its third heatwave of the summer, with temperatures surpassing 40C across western and central areas and around 37C in Paris.

A 93-year-old British national died on Sunday in a hospital from injuries sustained in the Los Gallardos wildfire in Spain, elevating the death toll to 13.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is expected to visit the site of the fire on Monday. Regional authorities said the blaze was contained on Sunday after affecting 27 square miles of forest and farmland.

Spain is experiencing extreme heat, which combined with wind and little rainfall is creating ideal conditions for small wildfires to grow unchecked.

Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent, with temperatures increasing twice as fast as the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.