The Fontainebleau Forest, in Seine-et-Marne (77), is entering its most decisive day since the blaze began. The two fires that broke out on Sunday, July 12, 2026, kept advancing overnight and now cover 2,050 hectares, about 10% of this iconic massif, the equivalent of 2,800 football pitches.
Two men admitted their involvement to investigators, and 850 firefighters remain on the ground, with a clear objective set by the prefect: to bring the fires under control by the end of the day.
The Fontainebleau public prosecutor outlined the contents of the custody in a statement. A first man, born in 2007, with no prior criminal record and a volunteer firefighter in Fontainebleau, admitted to setting fire to some twigs with a lighter and gasoline.
A second man, also born in 2007 and with no prior criminal record, admitted that he accidentally caused a fire by throwing his cigarette toward the Grand Parquet, near the pheasantry. The two were taken into custody near locations where fires had started or reignited, and were held in custody the same day. A third person remains in custody.
These admissions confirm what authorities have feared since Sunday: the disaster was human-caused. A timely reminder in the middle of a heatwave, as the massif’s vegetation lies parched and a single spark is all it takes.
Colonel Sébastien Avenel, deputy chief of the Seine-et-Marne Departmental Fire and Rescue Service, cautions that the complete extinguishing of the blaze will take several weeks. Putting out the fire does not mean the danger has passed.
A large portion of the work now involves dealing with the ground embers to prevent any rekindle. It’s a slow process, made considerably tougher by the forest’s rugged terrain: access is difficult, sometimes impossible for equipment.
The prefect of Seine-et-Marne, Pierre Ory, has tasked the teams with bringing the two hotspots under control by the end of the day, taking advantage of the now more favorable weather. He describes it as a decisive day, the moment when firefighters must gain the upper hand over the blaze. The official situation report is updated hourly by the State services in Seine-et-Marne.
The town of La Chapelle-la-Reine has issued a series of recommendations that apply to all residents affected by the smoke:
About 800 people have evacuated their homes for the past 48 hours across the three towns hardest hit, with conditions varying by location. Return will only be permitted once the fire is under control, the prefect said.
On the road, the situation remains tight. The autoroute A6 remains closed in the area, while a stretch of the D152 and a stretch of the D105 are also shut to traffic to clear the way for emergency vehicles. Detour routes are filling up quickly, and authorities are again asking people to simply avoid the zone.
Another directive, even more unexpected: authorities report animals wandering onto roads in the massif area, driven by the flames. So slow down on the routes that are still open, and check Bison Futé before you head out. On the rail side, services remain disrupted, details in our piece on the fire that cut the LGV and delayed the TGVs, and you can verify your train status on SNCF Connect.
Good news amid the chaos: the 150 horses of the Grand Parquet are now safe, spread across regional equestrian centers and the Military Riding School. The tourism office applauds an immediate chain of solidarity, with vans and trucks mobilized within hours, and notes that the site itself had not been touched by the flames at this time.
This solidarity extends well beyond the world of horses. In Grisy-Suisnes, mayor Nadine Gavard launched a fundraiser to support firefighters: a post on social media and the town’s alert app, a gathering in front of the town hall, and two cars packed with water, fruit and supplies in just half an hour. Other mayors in the department quickly followed suit.
Access to the entire massif forestier remains off-limits, as reiterated by the prefecture and the National Forest Office, the site manager. Agricultural work is also suspended in the surrounding fields.
The weather, for its part, isn’t letting up: Île-de-France remains on red heatwave alert this July 14, 2026. However, the wind is easing, and temperatures are expected to fall starting tomorrow.
