The French Interior Minister, Laurent Nuñez, communicated this Monday that security forces have arrested more than 400 people, among them 156 minors, of which 36 remain in custody, for their alleged participation in some of the 14,000 fires recorded in France "since the beginning of the season."
"There have been 402 arrests by the internal security forces for fires, whether of a criminal nature, involuntary, or caused by recklessness or negligence. Of them, 156 are minors. There are 36 people in prison, either because they have been convicted or because they are awaiting trial," he pointed out in a statement to the media.
At the end of a meeting of the Interministerial Crisis Management Operational Center (COGIC), Nuñez specified that across the country "14,000 fires have been counted since the beginning of the season," a figure that reflects the magnitude of the problem faced by the French authorities.
Among these fires stands out the one declared in the Var department, which remains active 15 days after its start and has become "the longest ever recorded" in this area of southeastern France since records began, as emphasized by the Interior Minister.
Nuñez detailed that in this fire, 1,250 "mobilized" firefighters are still deployed, supported by two water-dropping planes and two helicopters, with the aim of containing the flames of a fire that has already devastated 6,300 hectares, of which 1,850 have burned since the fire reactivated on July 31.