The Fontainebleau forest, in Seine-et-Marne (77), is witnessing one of the darkest episodes in its recent history. Since Sunday, July 12, 2026, the fire that started along the A6 highway near Noisy-sur-École has scorched nearly 1,000 hectares, about 5% of this massif spanning more than 20,000 hectares. Julien Marion, the director-general of Civil Security, calls the toll “very significant.” By Monday, the blaze remains neither contained nor controlled, two fresh outbreaks have been reported within the forest, including one near the Fontainebleau Golf Club, and investigators are considering the possibility of deliberate ignition.
During a visit to Noisy-sur-École on Monday morning, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez named what many had feared: about ten starting points for fires were detected within a roughly 1,000-meter radius, pointing to a deliberate origin. The prefect of Seine-et-Marne, Pierre Ory, confirmed that an investigation has been opened.
The minister hopes to have the blaze under control by the end of the day, but warns that tackling the damage will take several days, perhaps even weeks. A figure that underscores the scale of the weekend: nearly 250 fires were recorded across the country on Sunday alone, including around thirty that were simultaneous. Emmanuel Macron also noted that nine out of ten fires are linked to human activity.
The deployment is continually expanding. Two additional Canadairs are en route to join the two already in service, along with the two Dash-8s and the three water-bombing helicopters that are already engaged. Seeing these aircraft draw water from the Seine near Chartrettes is a sight unseen in Île-de-France.
On the ground, more than 500 firefighters are on the scene, backed by substantial ground reinforcements drawn from several regions and still en route. The weather offers no relief: winds gusting beyond 40 km/h at times, vegetation baked by a week-long heatwave, and peat soil that swallows the fire, forcing teams to swamp the plots to prevent flare-ups.
Between 700 and 900 people were evacuated as a precaution in the Vaudoué and Achères-la-Forêt area, where the blaze’s front came within about a hundred meters of the first houses. No casualties have been reported, and no homes have been destroyed at this stage, though one or two barns were damaged.
Another standout operation: the evacuation of 150 horses from the Grand Parquet equestrian center in Fontainebleau, with assistance from the army. Colonel Frédéric Duprez describes an evacuation carried out in a hurry, as flames loomed nearby, and salutes the mobilization of the property owners and horse professionals in the region.
On the highway, the A6 is closed in both directions between Soisy-sur-École and Nemours, for about twenty kilometers, with mandatory exits at Ury and Cély. The situation remains highly fluid and authorities are urging people to avoid the area: check Bison Futé before setting out.
On the rails, the breve lull was short-lived. The signaling cables damaged Sunday along the LGV Sud-Est were indeed repaired overnight, but a fresh fire near the tracks by Sens in the Yonne has once again disrupted traffic between Paris and Tonnerre. Trains are being diverted and are reporting delays of up to three hours and 40 minutes: we’re tracking all of this in our article on the fire that cuts the LGV and slows the TGVs, and you can check your train on SNCF Connect.
No. The Seine-et-Marne prefecture is maintaining the access ban to the entire forest massif, as well as a halt to farming activities in the fields. Official situation updates are issued in real time by the State services in Seine-et-Marne, and the massif is managed by the National Forests Office.
This blaze already ranks among the three largest fires recorded in the northern half of France since 2006. The weather isn’t helping: Île-de-France remains under red heatwave vigilance on July 13 and 14, and we’re tracking the alerts on Météo-France’s site. To find out when the heat will finally ease, read our piece on the end of the heatwave in Île-de-France.
Direct consequence of this fire risk, tous les feux d'artifice du 14 juillet sont désormais interdits en Seine-et-Marne, and many Île-de-France towns have followed suit: you can find the liste des feux d'artifice annulés en Île-de-France les 13 et 14 juillet. Since the start of the summer, nearly 25,000 hectares have burned across France, about twice as much as at the same time in 2025, and 32 people have already been placed in police custody.
