AVON, France — A wildfire burning through the famous Fontainebleau forest south of Paris forced residents out of their homes and brought train and highway travel to a halt on Monday, adding to a growing list of wildfires scorching western Europe during a relentless summer heat wave.
The Fontainebleau forest is a historically significant and heavily visited destination located roughly 70 kilometers — about 42 miles — from the French capital. The surrounding region is home to the Fontainebleau Chateau, a palace once favored by Napoleon, and draws large numbers of tourists and day-trippers from Paris and elsewhere.
Hundreds of firefighters were sent to battle the blaze, and two water-dropping aircraft were brought in to help from the air. Regional fire service spokesperson Paul Laurain shared updates with public broadcaster France-Info as crews worked to bring the fire under control.
Train service to and from Paris’s busy Gare de Lyon station had been thrown into chaos late Sunday but was gradually recovering by Monday morning. A stretch of the heavily traveled A6 highway heading southeast out of Paris was also closed due to fire danger.
The Fontainebleau fire is just one piece of a larger crisis unfolding across France. Wildfires in the southern part of the country have already burned thousands of hectares since last week, putting a strain on firefighting resources and even forcing changes to the route of the Tour de France cycling race.
France is currently in the grip of its third heat wave of the summer. Temperatures have climbed past 40 degrees Celsius — 104 degrees Fahrenheit — across western and central parts of the country, with Paris seeing temperatures around 37 C, or roughly 98 F.
Across the border in Spain, the situation remains grim following a deadly wildfire that tore through a remote expat community in the country’s south last week. A 93-year-old British national died Sunday in a hospital from injuries suffered in the Los Gallardos fire, bringing the total death toll to 13. Ten people were still unaccounted for as of Monday.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez was expected to travel to the fire zone Monday. Regional officials said the blaze had been contained by Sunday after burning through approximately 70 square kilometers — about 27 square miles — of forest and farmland, an area larger than the island of Manhattan.
Extreme heat, strong winds, and a prolonged lack of rainfall have combined to create dangerous fire conditions across Spain, allowing small blazes to explode in size before they can be stopped.
The fires are unfolding against a backdrop of long-term climate change. According to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, Europe is the fastest-warming continent on Earth, with temperatures rising at twice the global average rate since the 1980s.
