More than 2,000 hectares of the Fontainebleau forest were ravaged by the flames before the fires were brought under control on Tuesday 14 July. Four people, including a volunteer firefighter, remain in police custody on Wednesday 15 July in connection with these incidents. Two of them have admitted to starting a fire. Since the start of the season, more than 60 people have been arrested in France for deliberately or accidentally starting fires, whilst 32,000 hectares have already been burnt.
Severe penalties, even for accidental fires
Those responsible for starting fires face severe penalties, whether they acted intentionally or not. For a fire started accidentally, sentences can range from one to ten years’ imprisonment. In the case of a deliberate act, the Criminal Code provides for sentences ranging from ten years’ imprisonment to life imprisonment.
The law also provides for aggravating circumstances, particularly in the event of a deliberate breach of a safety regulation, such as a local or prefectural by-law prohibiting barbecues or fireworks. Irreversible damage to the environment and the perpetrator’s role – as in the case of the volunteer firefighter involved in Fontainebleau – are also taken into account. If the fire results in injuries or deaths, the most severe penalties apply.
Firefighters previously convicted of starting fires
Unfortunately, this sort of incident is not uncommon. In December 2022, a volunteer firefighter from Agde (Hérault) was sentenced by the Béziers Magistrates’ Court to five years’ imprisonment, three of which are to be served without parole, for having caused 43 fires between 2011 and 2019. The man, who was often the first to alert the emergency services and to intervene at the fires he had himself started, was also ordered to pay 93,000 euros to the Hérault Fire and Rescue Service (SDIS) in recognition of the resources mobilised to fight fires.
Apart from criminal penalties, such acts constitute a betrayal of the mission entrusted to the fire service, whose commitment is based on protecting people, property and the environment.