Firefighters Battle Large Blaze in Fontainebleau Forest

French officials deployed two firefighting planes on Sunday to combat a "very virulent" wildfire of "exceptional scale" that ignited in the Fontainebleau forest, located approximately 60 kilometers southeast of Paris. The blaze, which began late Sunday afternoon, rapidly consumed over 800 hectares (2,000 acres) of the forest, a former royal hunting ground now interspersed with villages. By early Monday, the fire was still spreading, forcing the partial closure of the A6 highway, a major north-south route in France. The disruption occurred during a busy summer travel weekend, exacerbated by a heatwave. Villages within the forest's vicinity were evacuated as a precautionary measure. The scale and speed of the fire prompted an urgent response from emergency services, highlighting the challenges of combating wildfires in densely vegetated areas, especially during periods of high temperatures and dry conditions. The incident underscores the ongoing threat of wildfires across Europe during the summer months.