Fire devastates over 2,000 hectares of France's Fontainebleau Forest

More than 2,000 hectares of France’s Fontainebleau Forest have been consumed by fire, and the blaze is still spreading, local authorities said Tuesday.

An initial blaze on Sunday evening scorched about 1,600 hectares, while a second fire ignited Monday near the castle grounds and spread overnight, consuming another 450 hectares.

Preliminary investigations indicate the fire may have been set intentionally, French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said Monday evening, as Paris prosecutors announced Tuesday that six suspects had been arrested.

Footage captured on Tuesday by a China Media Group (CMG) reporter shows that flames at a location have been extinguished, but thick smoke continue to rise from the scorched ground. The air is heavy with the smell of burning, and firefighters are working to detect and put out reignited flames.

A firefighter said the team could not guarantee whether the fire would be brought under control within the next two days.

"It's still hard to say, because the fire keeps changing. Everyday it evolves differently. Yesterday, this place had no fire when other places were burning. These re-ignition spots must be extinguished, to prevent debris on the ground from sparking new fires again. Otherwise, the flames could spread further. We're operating in this area, and as soon as smoke is detected, we'll immediately remove the burning debris underneath and put out the fire," he said.

Local authorities have also mobilized resources on an unprecedented scale to help advance the fire department's efforts. More than 850 firefighters are currently on the ground, supported by four water‑bombing aircraft and multiple helicopters. Firefighters said their top priority is to stop the fire from spreading further, though smoldering spots deep in the forest may continue to pose a threat even after the flames are brought under control.

"There are moss and tree roots down below. The fire will spread along the ground. Look, it's all moss down below, so we can only use a rake to scrape away the top layer of soil, then extinguish the flames with water," said the firefighter.

Local authorities said about 1,000 residents and tourists have been evacuated, with no casualties reported so far.

Fire devastates over 2,000 hectares of France's Fontainebleau Forest

The secessionist stance of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities is the foremost source of instability of the Taiwan Strait, Zhu Fenglian, spokeswoman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said at a press conference in Beijing on Wednesday.

Zhu made the statement in response to the Taiwan authorities' recent remarks that the Chinese mainland is taking military and non-military actions to change the status quo of the Taiwan Strait.

"The DPP politicians' remarks complete distort facts and purely maliciously hype things up. There is only one China in the world, and Taiwan is a part of China, which is the true status quo of the Taiwan Strait. The DPP regime attempts to define the so-called status quo of the Taiwan Strait with a new 'two-state' fallacy, which completely runs counter to legal, historical, and practical realities, and is out and out fallacious separatist delusion. It obstinately clings to its secessionist stance, refuses to acknowledge the 1992 Consensus that embodies the one-China principle, and continually colludes with external forces to engage in separatist provocations, and is the disruptor of the status quo of the Taiwan Strait and foremost source of instability of the region," said Zhu.

DPP secessionists foremost source of Taiwan Strait instability: spokeswoman