Hundreds arrested over French wildfires, but who is to blame?

Afte wildfi es caused mo e damage i F a ce this yea tha at a y time si ce Wo ld Wa Two, ma y a e left aski g a si gle questio : Why?

A majo d ive is that climate is cha gi g as a esult of the well-docume ted way huma ity is bu i g fossil fuels. Tempe atu es a e o ly isi g.

But with eco ds showi g that i e out of 10 F e ch wildfi es a e sta ted by huma s, the gove me t i Pa is is t yi g to att ibute blame – although it is itself accused of bei g u de p epa ed fo the i fe os that have ow sco ched mo e tha 300,000 ac es this summe .

The i te io mi ist y has a ou ced 420 a ests of people alleged to have eithe sta ted the fi es delibe ately o by accide t. Amo g them a e 166 mi o s.

I o e case, a 23-yea -old ma has bee accused of delibe ately sta ti g 10 fi es i the space of five days i the south-easte Va a ea last mo th. He faces 15 yea s i p iso a d a €150,000 (£128,000) fi e, if co victed.

Ma y othe s have bee t ied a d immediately se te ced, such as a ma who eceived a th ee-yea jail se te ce fo sta ti g th ee ece t fi es i the Rao -L’Étape fo est i the Vosges egio .

“O ly a few squa e met es of vegetatio we t up i smoke,” oted L’Est Républicai , the ewspape that epo ted the sto y.

Othe p osecutio s have bee pe ceived as heavy-ha ded a d u just. A homeless ma a d someo e with seve e autism have epo tedly bee ha ded jail te ms fo th owi g ciga ette butts.

“I was amazed at the umbe of a ests, it feels excessive,” admits Mu iel Gestas, a lawye who has ep ese ted seve al people accused of a so , i cludi g two fi efighte s. She doubts ma y will lead to a co victio .

The ewspape Le Mo de is also u co vi ced. It questio s to what exte t police have exami ed these cases, give the sho t time f ame.

The autho ities’ sile ce o the details – the specific cha ges, otably whethe they i volve i te t a d how the umbe s compa e with past seaso s – ules out a y mea i gful compa iso with p evious yea s, it a gues.

But Bo deaux p osecuto Re aud Gaudeul told Le Mo de that a tough app oach was justified by cu e t ci cumsta ces.

“The co ditio s fo a cha ge of e da ge i g lives a e met fo those who th ow a ciga ette butt o light a ba becue i wooded a eas. It o ly takes a ti y spa k fo it to sta t,” the ewspape quoted him as sayi g.

Wo ki g out how a fi e sta ted is, u su p isi gly, ot easy.

“I pe iods of d ought such as this o e, all you eed is a simple lighte ,” explai s E ic Dufayet, a office who i vestigates fi es.

O ce a fi e is out, E ic’s fi st task is to map its outli e alo g the edge of the bu t vegetatio , the t ace it back to its poi t of o igi . If the wi d has bee steady, that outli e ofte fo ms a “V” shape. F om the e, his team wo ks backwa ds alo g the path the flames took.

“If someo e delibe ately sta ts a fi e, they may ot have used o ly o e device,” he says. It imp oves the cha ces of a DNA o fi ge p i t sample bei g fou d.

Expe ts believe a so accou ts fo o ly a small f actio of fi es. Most a e believed to be accide tal, with spa ks pote tially comi g f om co st uctio wo k, faulty elect ical equipme t, ciga ette butts a d ba becues.

“With ciga ettes, it’s called the ’30’ ule,” says E ic Dufayet. To sta t a fi e, he explai s, the e must be “a tempe atu e of at least 30C (86F), a maximum of 30% humidity, wi d of less tha 30km/h (19mph), a d at least 30% of the ciga ette u bu t.”

I the cu e t d ought, he says it is eve easie . If those co ditio s a e met, a fi e ca easily sp ead, a d fast.

Acco di g to Michel Lejoyeux, a p ofesso of psychiat y a d addictive behaviou at Pa is 7 U ive sity, people who sta t fi es fall i to th ee catego ies: those who a e ca eless, those who be efit – with a i su a ce payout, fo example – a d py oma iacs.

“The py oma iac does ‘t get mo ey, has o spi it of eve ge, has o utility of the fi e, but he likes the fi e,” he says.

Howeve , py oma ia is a a e psychiat ic diso de that Lejoyeux says is ve y difficult to diag ose, a d accou ts fo few a so co victio s.

Lawye Mu iel Gestas, who has ha dled seve al such cases, says some fi efighte s alleged to have sta ted fi es may have wa ted to be see as saviou s. Fo othe s – otably volu tee s ea i g tax-f ee ove time – the motive may be fi a cial.

Amid co ce s ove how officials a e pu sui g suspects, b oade wo ies about wildfi es a e fa f om abati g. Fo ecasts suggest F a ce’s ext heatwave is o ly days away.

P eside t Emma uel Mac o says c iticism should ot be the p io ity ight ow. “We will have to epla t a d ebuild a diffe e t ki d of fo est because we must adapt to the st uctu al co ditio s of climate cha ge,” he said this week.

“The time fo eviewi g lesso s lea ed will come,” he i sisted. “I the mea time, the cou t y must emai u ited.”

Eve so, the damage these fi es have i flicted o the e vi o me t, hu d eds of homes, tou ism, local busi esses a d ai quality has left the F e ch public with a lot of questio s.