France Records 11,000 Wildfires, Area Burned Surpasses 2025 Total

Istanbul (ANTARA) - France has already exceeded the total area burned last year, recording nearly 11,000 wildfires since the start of the year, with some 35,000 hectares of land affected.

“This means that over the past three weeks, firefighters across the country have had to deal with between 250 and 300 fires simultaneously,” said Director General of Civil Protection Julien Marion, accompanying President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to the Fontainebleau Forest on Thursday.

Marion said each of the three forest fires still active has burned more than 1,000 hectares, despite the government deploying firefighting resources on a massive scale.

He added that the risk of forest fires is no longer confined to southern France. Around 50 departments are now classified as high-risk forest areas, including Cotes-d’Armor in Brittany and Seine-et-Marne near Paris.

According to Marion, the expansion of high-risk areas has forced the authorities to spread firefighting resources across a far wider area, adding to operational challenges.

Data from the French National Forest Office show that nearly 15,000 fires occurred in France throughout 2025. Those fires burned around 30,000 hectares of forest and other vegetation.

Of that figure, about 1,800 were classified as forest fires, with nearly 20,000 hectares affected, including a major blaze in the Corbieres Mountains in the Aude department of southern France in August.

Touching on the investigation into the Fontainebleau Forest fire, which the authorities say was deliberately started, Macron said a number of suspects had been arrested.

“The message is clear: nothing will be left unpunished,” he said, promising zero tolerance for those responsible for fires.

Macron also said France is working with five other European countries on a joint order for Canadair firefighting aircraft. According to him, the cooperation has revived production of the aircraft, which had previously been halted.

France currently operates 12 Canadair water-bomber aircraft and eight Dash planes.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said the fleet grows to around 40 aircraft with the addition of chartered planes and water-bombing helicopters.