Two firefighting planes have been sent to the Paris region to combat a "virulent" wildfire of "exceptional scale" in the Fontainebleau forest, located south of the French capital. The blaze has already impacted traffic on France's main north-south highway during a busy summer travel weekend.
As of early Monday, the fire had spread across 800 hectares and continued to grow in the forest, approximately 60 kilometers southeast of Paris. This deployment marks the first instance of firefighting planes being sent from the typically drier southern regions of France to address fires in the Paris area.
IMAGE4 A wildfire burns in Noisy-sur-Ecole near Fontainebleau, southern Paris. "The aim is to save lives and property," said Eric Brocardi of France's national federation of firefighters. In addition to the planes, two firefighting helicopters and an observation aircraft have been deployed to the scene. The Paris region is currently experiencing its third heatwave of the summer, a period during which temperature records have been broken in several European countries.
IMAGE2 A map showing France, Paris and the Fontainebleau forest just south of it.