Major wildfire rages south of Paris during heatwave

PARIS — French officialson Sunday rushed two firefighting planes to tackle a “very virulent” fire of “exceptional scale” that erupted in the sprawling Fontainebleau forest about 60 south-east of Paris.

Two firefighting planes were deployed to the Paris region Sunday after a large fire erupted south of the French capital, disrupting traffic during a busy summer travel weekend and piling more misery on a region sweltering through its latest heatwave.

About 400 firefighters worked to contain the fire, which erupted two days before the 14 July Bastille day national holiday.

French firefighters are battling a huge blaze in a forest just south of Paris as a devastating heatwave extends its deadly sweep across Europe.