48 arrested over France’s summer forest fires

FILE PHOTO: A silhouette is seen in front of flames at a wildfire near Belin-Beliet, southwestern France, overnight on August 11, 2022.  (Photo by Thibaud MORITZ / AFP)

PARIS — Police have arrested 48 people for allegedly starting forest fires in France during the summer, a spokeswoman told AFP Friday, after a season marked by large, devastating blazes.

Up to 10,000 French firefighters a day were mobilized this summer to fight fires that have ravaged more than 65,000 hectares, according to the European Forest Fire Information System – a record since the start of satellite data in 2006.

Of the 48 arrested, 12 people have already been sentenced to two years in prison, while “more than a dozen” have been remanded in custody, said national gendarmerie spokeswoman Marie-Laure Pezant.

“We found young people, minors, retirees, mostly men,” she said, adding that the suspects came from all backgrounds.

READ: Wildfires rage in France, thousands evacuated from homes

Some have “a weaker psychological profile, sometimes mental disorders,” Pezant said, adding that some were firefighters as well.

According to the National Forestry Office, nine out of 10 fires are of human origin and three out of 10 fires started on average are intentional.

France’s southwestern Gironde department – home to part of Europe’s largest coniferous forest – was particularly affected with 30,000 hectares going up in smoke.

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