France’s interior minister on Monday said two people had been arrested in connection with a fire in the Fontainebleau forest near Paris.
The arrests are among a total of 59 people arrested across the country for “intentional or accidental arson”, Laurent Nunez said on France2 television, as the country battles wildfires and floods through the latest heat wave.
“There were 10 ignition points within a 1,000 meter radius, which indicates that it could have been deliberately set,” Nunez said.
The fire broke out on Sunday in a growing forest, about 60 kilometers (40 miles) southeast of the capital, a former royal hunting reserve that today has quiet villages.
As the region grappled with the latest heat wave, wildfires – which are rare in the country’s north – quickly spread through the Unesco biosphere reserve, disrupting rail and road transport during a busy holiday travel weekend.
By Monday afternoon the fire had spread to nearly 1,000 hectares (more than 2,470 acres) – an area larger than Gibraltar – and forced some residents from their homes in the normally quiet, peaceful forest.
