Man arrested over fire in Paris park

PARIS

Officers arrested 23-year-old man in Paris after he allegedly admitted he intended to set fire to one of the French capital’s largest parks, a police source said on July 18.

Police were called late July 17 to a blaze at the Bois de Boulogne park and found a fire spreading from a pile of brushwood to a tree trunk, the source said.

Officers put out the flames with fire extinguishers before they could spread further, but around one square meter of vegetation was burned.

A man at the scene told police he had intended to set the western Paris park alight and was taken into custody. Prosecutors said on July 18 his detention had been extended.

The arrest comes as France remains shaken by a major wildfire in the Fontainebleau forest southeast of Paris that burned around 2,200 hectares.

Earlier this week, two 18-year-old men, including a volunteer firefighter, suspected of deliberately starting fires in two other locations in the area, were placed under formal investigation and remanded in custody.

Two workers from a construction company were also charged and placed under judicial supervision for unintentionally starting the first fire in the Fontainebleau forest.

More than 32,000 hectares have burned in France since the start of the year, exceeding the total area affected during the whole of the 2025 wildfire season.