France's 2026 wildfire season has already broken records, with vast areas destroyed by flames and more than 200,000 people evacuated - it has also seen hundreds arrested on suspicion of starting fires.

French firefighters are still tackling dozens of fires across the country amid repeated heatwaves and very dry conditions.

474 - French authorities have arrested 474 people in connection with fire outbreaks since the beginning of July, the Interior Ministry said on August 14th. The number includes those suspected of accidentally starting fires, as well as those suspected of arson.

Of those arrested, 183 were minors, meaning roughly 39 percent were under the age of 18. A 15-year-old, for example, was placed under judicial investigation in connection with a fire near the Bordeaux airport that killed two firefighters in July.

READ MORE: 15-year-old detained over deadly French fire

36 - When the Interior Ministry announced 402 arrests on August 4th, it said 36 people had already been placed in detention, either following a conviction or while awaiting trial.

That figure is useful context when looking at the much larger number of arrests - being interpellé (arrested) in France does not automatically mean that someone has been charged, convicted or imprisoned.

In Gironde alone, 11 people had been referred to prosecutors in investigations into the summer's fires. Two were held on suspicion of deliberately starting a fire, while nine others faced proceedings for allegedly endangering life.

One 45-year-old man was sentenced in August to three years in prison, including two years behind bars, after admitting to starting 11 fires in the Deux-Sèvres départements between July 25th and August 7th.

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9 in 10 - French civil protection authorities say around nine out of 10 wildfires have a human origin.

However that figure comes with several caveats.

It includes both deliberate acts and accidents or dangerous behaviour - around half of wildfires are linked to carelessness or risky behaviour, such as failing to dispose of cigarette butts correctly.

But the major factor is climate related - the longer, hotter, dryer summers have created tinderbox conditions where even a small spark can lead to a huge and devastating wildfire. 

"The effects of climate change... mean the fire risk area will get bigger, the high-risk season will get longer, and weather conditions that could trigger very large wildfires will occur increasingly often," Jean-Luc Beccari, head of the fire and emergency services in the Bouches-du-Rhone region near Var, told AFP.

257 - France has recorded 257 large-scale wildfire outbreaks since the beginning of the 2026 wildfire season, according to the Gendarmerie Nationale.

98,000 -  Nearly 98,000 hectares had burned across France since the beginning of 2026 by July 25th, according to Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, who described the figure as a “historic record.”

Since that date several major fires have broken out, including one in Landes that saw 500 people evacuated on August 14th.

The final total, therefore, is likely to be considerably higher than 98,000 hectares -  which is an area almost 10 times the size of Paris.

The majority of the damage has been concentrated in a handful of major fires, particularly in Gironde in southwest France, where one blaze alone destroyed more than 42,000 hectares. Stabilised on August 1st, it was the largest wildfire in France by area burned since 1949.