Fire in Fontainebleau forest near Paris triggers evacuations; 10 still missing in Spanish wildfire

FONTAINEBLEAU, France (AP) — A fire raging in the historic and much-visited Fontainebleau forest south of Paris on Monday prompted evacuations of some residential neighborhoods and disrupted train and highway traffic.

It was among several wildfires in western Europe as the region bakes under its third red-alert heat wave this year.

In Spain, 10 people were still unaccounted for Monday from a fire that ripped through a remote southern expatriate community last week, killing 13 people in one of the country's deadliest blazes.

The Fontainebleau forest fire is unusual for its proximity to the French capital — about 70 kilometers (42 miles). The region hosts the Fontainebleau Chateau favored by Napoleon and is popular with visitors from Paris and beyond.

French President Emmanuel Macron said all necessary means were being deployed to fight the fire of ″exceptional scale.”

Two water-dumping planes were deployed over the area along with hundreds of firefighters, regional fire service spokesperson Paul Laurain told public broadcaster France-Info.

The head of the regional administration, Pierre Ory, told French media that an investigation is underway and that arson was being considered a possibility.

A new fire has broken out in another section of the forest, Ory said. The initial fire is still not contained and was continuing to spread at a moderate rate.

“Winds are turning, which is significantly complicating the work of the firefighters," he said.

Trains to and from the bustling Gare de Lyon train station were disrupted late Sunday but were returning to normal Monday morning. A section of the busy A6 highway leading southeast of Paris was shut down because of fire risk.

Large fires in southern France have already scorched thousands of hectares (acres) since last week, disrupting the Tour de France cycling race and stretching firefighting resources.

France is experiencing the peak of its third heat wave of the summer, with temperatures surpassing 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) across western and central areas and around 37 C (98 F) in Paris.

A 93-year-old British national died Sunday in a hospital from injuries sustained in the Los Gallardos wildfire, elevating the death toll to 13.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez was expected to visit the site of the fire on Monday. Regional authorities said the blaze was contained Sunday after affecting some 70 square kilometers (27 square miles) of forest and farmland — larger than the size of Manhattan.

Spain is experiencing extreme heat, which combined with wind and little rainfall is creating the ideal conditions for small wildfires to grow unchecked.

Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent, with temperatures increasing twice as fast as the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.

In the U.K., people were evacuated from several dozen rural homes in north Wales after a wildfire broke out across a mountainside on Sunday, British media reported.

Wildfires also burned in several locations across England as another heat wave — the third this year — brought hot, sunny and dry conditions.

The Met Office said record heat waves since May have led to 2026 becoming the first year to record temperatures of 35 C (95 F) or higher on six separate days. That broke the previous record set in 1976 and 2020, when five days were recorded with such temperatures.

Natural England’s fire severity index has put much of England at “very high” risk of wildfires, with some areas in southern England and the Midlands at “exceptional” risk.

Naishadham reported from Madrid. Eva Van Dam in Paris and Sylvia Hui in London contributed.

A previous version corrected the age of a British national who died Sunday.

A fire fighting helicopter in action as wildfires are seen in the Fontainebleau forest region, about 60 kilometers (37 miles) south of Paris, France, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)

A fire command vehicle makes its way through a wildfire in the Fontainebleau forest region, south of Paris, France, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)

Fire trucks are parked near the scene of a wildfire in the region of the historic Fontainebleau forest, about 60 km (37 miles) south of Paris, France, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)

A view of a burnt area affected by wildfires in Bedar, near Almeria, Spain, Saturday, July 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Marrero)

Smoke billows rise into the sky during wildfires at the historic Fontainebleau forest, about 60 km (37 miles) south of Paris, France, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy chided the international community Wednesday for not taking a tougher stance against Russia over its escalating bombardment of civilian areas of Ukraine.

At the end of August, Russia launched a week of nighttime and daylight attacks on Kyiv in its heaviest sustained bombardment of the Ukrainian capital since its full-scale invasion began more than four years ago. The relentless missile and drone strikes have continued this month and aim to sap civilian morale, Ukrainian officials say.

International economic sanctions on Russia and efforts to isolate Moscow diplomatically haven’t stopped the invasion. Zelenskyy urged countries to step up the pressure.

“Unfortunately, there has been too little response from the international community to these strikes, which are taking people’s lives practically every day,” he said on social media.

“But a response is needed — Moscow must not go into the winter believing that it can get away with missile and drone terror without consequences,” he said.

The United Nations said last month that increasing Russian aerial attacks killed or wounded more Ukrainian civilians in July than in any month since March 2022, with 437 killed and more than 2,600 wounded.

In all, more than 16,800 Ukrainian civilians have been killed and more than 51,000 wounded since the Russian invasion, according to the U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine.

The U.S. has renewed its push to end the fighting, sending special envoys over the weekend to Kyiv and Moscow, although Washington’s efforts haven’t yet delivered any substantial progress. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said late Tuesday that the Ukraine-Russia talks were “substantive” but much remains to be done.

Russia's aerial attacks overnight into Wednesday killed at least two people and wounded seven, Ukrainian officials said, as Moscow fired ballistic and cruise missiles as well as drones at six regions.

Four of the wounded were in a 22-story residential building in Kyiv’s Darnytskyi district, where a drone damaged the 11th floor and started a fire on the 12th floor, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said.

Olha Smal, 62, who lives on the 12th floor, said the blast wave flung her across her kitchen. One of her bedrooms caught fire, and smoke quickly filled the apartment, she said. Her pregnant neighbor was wounded.

“You live one day at a time. You don’t know what will happen to you tomorrow, or even what will happen today,” she told The Associated Press. “It’s very, very hard.”

Russia’s Defense Ministry said that its forces hit a drone factory warehouse in Kyiv.

It also claimed strikes on fuel reservoirs and an electric substation in the port city of Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine.

The Russian military also struck a ship heading to Odesa with military cargo and logistical facilities at Ukraine’s Starokozache border crossing with Moldova, the ministry said. The border strike killed two people, Ukrainian authorities said.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine is responding to Moscow’s strikes with daily long-range attacks on infrastructure deep inside Russia.

He said the latest Ukrainian strikes targeted Novorossiysk, a Black Sea port in Russia’s Krasnodar region. The attack hit a naval base, including a terminal used to load oil, military port facilities, and warships carrying cruise missiles, according to Zelenskyy.

The Novorossiysk naval base is a key hub for Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, providing maintenance and logistical support for its ships, according to Ukraine’s General Staff.

Krasnodar Gov. Veniamin Kondratyev said that four people, including a child, were killed and 29 others were wounded in the drone attack on Novorossiysk.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said that air defenses downed 596 Ukrainian drones from late Tuesday until early Wednesday.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Firefighters work on a partially damaged residential building following a Russian drone attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Firefighters work on a partially damaged residential building following a Russian drone attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Locals watch as firefighters work on a partially damaged residential building following a Russian drone attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

A woman peers from a window of a partially damaged residential building following a Russian drone attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)