Residents evacuated as fire of 'exceptional scale' rages in Fontainebleau forest south of Paris

Firefighters were rushing to contain a fire that erupted in the sprawling Fontainebleau forest just south of Paris on Sunday.

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Officials described the fire as "very virulent" and of "exceptional scale" as it raced across 800 hectares and was still spreading.

The spread caused the partial closure of the A6 highway, the country's main north-south artery, officials said early on Monday.

With nightfall, firefighting aircraft had been forced to suspend their operations.

Around 15 homes had been evacuated in the nearby village of Vaudoue and firefighters were defending several other towns in the area, said the local Seine-et-Marne fire service.

Two firefighting planes alongside 400 firefighters were deployed to contain the flames, which erupted just ahead of the 14 July national holiday and on the first major weekend for departures for the summer holiday season.

Eric Brocardi, of France's national federation of firemen, said it was the first time fire bomber planes had been sent up from the normally drier and hotter south of the country to extinguish fires in the Paris region.

Two firefighting helicopters and an observation aircraft were also helping to fight the blaze, he added.

"The aim is to save lives and property," he said later, as the fire advanced.

France is currently experiencing its third heatwave since May, increasing the risk of fires.

The three heatwaves have seen temperature records broken in several countries across Europe and have caused thousands of excess deaths, according to estimates in Belgium, Britain, France and Spain.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez, whose office announced he would visit Fontainebleau on Monday, said that forest fires had already consumed 17,000 hectares this year.

Once the figures had all been tallied, that would come to 25,000 hectares -- "twice as much as the same period" in 2025, he added.