France wildfires near Paris force evacuations as Spain counts more victims

Noisy-sur-ecole,UPDATED: Jul 14, 2026 19:50 IST

Wildfires linked to extreme heat continued to cause damage in parts of France and Spain on Tuesday, with hundreds of firefighters deployed near Paris and authorities in southern Spain identifying more victims of a deadly blaze. In France, two forest fires near the capital have forced evacuations, while in Spain officials are still tracing those killed in a fire that swept through a remote expatriate community.

The fires in the Fontainebleau forest south of Paris have burned nearly 2,000 hectares and led to the evacuation of 1,000 people, according to local authorities. No deaths or injuries have been reported. In southern Spain, judicial authorities said they have identified 10 of the 13 people who died in the Los Gallardos fire, while 10 others remain unaccounted for.

Hundreds of firefighters were battling two blazes in the Fontainebleau forest on Tuesday. While larger fires have hit southern France, the Fontainebleau fire is seen as especially serious because of its closeness to the densely populated area around Paris. Smoke covered the treetops and hung in the air as authorities worked to bring the fires under control.

Water-dropping planes repeatedly descended to the Seine River to collect water and tackle the fires. The regional fire chief said it was the first time such aircraft had been used to fight fires in the Paris region.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told BFM television that two people had been arrested in connection with the Fontainebleau fires, and two others had been arrested over fires elsewhere in France. He did not give details. The heat wave that has scorched France in recent days, the third this year, is beginning to ease. The national weather service expects to lift its red heat-wave alerts from Wednesday, although thunderstorm warnings have been issued for several regions.

In Spain, authorities said 10 of the 13 people killed in the Los Gallardos fire had been identified through biological samples, four days after the blaze tore through the remote community in the south of the country. Most of those who died were foreign nationals. According to a statement from judicial authorities, they included five British citizens, including a woman who died in hospital, three Belgian nationals, a French woman and a Spanish national.

The Los Gallardos fire burned about 70 square kilometres of forest and farmland. Spain is facing extreme heat, and authorities said wind and a lack of rainfall were creating conditions in which small wildfires could spread unchecked. Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent, with temperatures rising twice as fast as the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. The latest fires in France and Spain have again highlighted the scale of the threat as hot and dry conditions persist across parts of Europe.

With PTI Inputs

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