Overview
- Authorities reopened about 80% of the Fontainebleau massif on Saturday, August 22, making roughly 18,000 hectares accessible while an estimated 4,000 hectares — 2,000 burned plus a 2,000-hectare buffer — stay closed.
- Fire services and ONF teams continue daily work to extinguish 'points chauds' because the forest's sandy, organic soils can allow underground smouldering that may resurface days or weeks later.
- Climbing areas have largely reopened but blocks damaged by fire remain off-limits and popular sectors such as Trois-Pignons, La Faisanderie and parts of Barbizon are still restricted for safety.
- Judicial probes into the July blaze are active: several people have been placed under formal investigation, including two held in provisional detention and two construction workers indicted.
- Local officials say reopening will ease severe summer losses for businesses that depend on millions of annual visitors, but ONF experts warn ecological recovery will take decades and access will be managed progressively.