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🇫🇷 France /Environment & Climate

Fontainebleau Fire: 'We let the forest grow to the city's doorstep due to agricultural decline,' says expert

From Le Figaro · () French

Translated from French, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

Interview Sources not specified Context piece
  • A researcher warns that the expansion and lack of maintenance of forests, like Fontainebleau, increase fire risk.
  • The forest's surface area has doubled in 150 years, bringing it closer to urban areas and increasing fire danger.
  • Fire risk days in the forest have risen from four or five annually to 25-30, making ignition more probable.

The risk of wildfires in France's iconic Fontainebleau forest has significantly increased due to forest expansion and insufficient maintenance, according to researcher Jean-Baptiste Filippi. Filippi, an expert in vegetation fire simulation at the CNRS, noted that the forest's surface area has doubled over the past 150 years, bringing it dangerously close to urban areas.

When a small undergrowth fire breaks out, licking the bark of the trees, it's not serious, it's even beneficial.

— Jean-Baptiste FilippiFilippi's comment on the natural role of small fires, contrasting it with the current dangerous situation.

Filippi explained that while small undergrowth fires can be beneficial, the current situation presents a heightened danger. He pointed out that the number of days with high fire risk in Fontainebleau has jumped from four or five per year a century ago to between 25 and 30 annually. This mathematical increase in risk days, he stated, directly correlates with a higher probability of fires starting if an ignition source is present.

A hundred years ago, there were four or five days a year when the fire risk was high in this forest in Seine-et-Marne. Today, we count between twenty-five and thirty days of risk per year.

— Jean-Baptiste FilippiFilippi explaining the dramatic increase in annual fire risk days in Fontainebleau.

The researcher's analysis comes as an exceptional fire is currently ravaging the forest, occurring unusually early in the season. Filippi's insights highlight the growing challenge of managing natural landscapes adjacent to populated areas, especially in the face of changing environmental conditions that elevate fire risks.

This doesn't mean they happen... But if there is a source of ignition (anything that can cause a spark or a flame, editor's note) somewhere, the fire can start quickly.

— Jean-Baptiste FilippiFilippi elaborating on the increased likelihood of fires due to more high-risk days.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Le Figaro in French. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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