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Volunteer firefighter confesses to starting Fontainebleau forest fire

Published July 15, 2026 at 6:31 AM UTC

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A 19-year-old volunteer firefighter has confessed to starting a blaze in the historic Fontainebleau forest, a massive fire that has scorched over 2,000 hectares of land near Paris. The incident is part of a series of fires that have kept emergency services on high alert during a period of extreme heat and drought across France. Authorities confirmed that the young man, who had no prior criminal record, admitted to using a lighter and gasoline to ignite twigs in the forest area. A second individual also confessed to accidentally starting a separate fire in the same region by discarding a cigarette near the Grand Parquet area.