Fires in Fontainebleau: a ballet of helicopters draws water from the castle basins

Since yesterday afternoon, the Château de Fontainebleau has hosted a ballet of helicopters, piloted by firefighters. Under the impassioned eye of swans and rare tourists, the pilots descend towards the Grand Canal or the Carp Pond, draw 1,000 liters of water with each rotation and set off again towards the adjacent forest.

“There are two sources of fire, one located around twenty kilometers from the castle, the other three kilometers away, near the Faisanderie district. If the monument has so far been spared, thanks to the direction of the wind, we wanted to help”we explain to the estate.

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The grand canal – 1.2 kilometers long – is a major hydraulic work, ordered by Henri IV. It has just been restored and is fully flooded. As for the Etang des Carpes, six hectares in line with the grand canal, it has been filled with carp since the 17th century.^e century – when Henry IV received around sixty as a gift from the Duke of Lorraine. A XVII pavilion^e enhances it, which helicopters have no trouble avoiding (unlike carp!), given the size of the body of water.

« Firefighters think they can fix the fire this evening. All we hope is that the wind does not pick up again and does not change direction, because at that time, both the town located at the gates of the castle and the monument would be in very bad shape. », we continue at the estate.

For the moment, the castle’s crisis unit has not yet been activated. But Marie-Christine Labourdette, president of the estate, is in constant contact with the prefecture. She also put back on the top of the pile the plan for securing the works, with the list of those to be evacuated as a priority, in the event of fire.

Tuesday July 14, the “house of centuries”, as Napoleon I nicknamed it^iswas closed to visitors. The day before, it had closed its doors at 2 p.m. due to a heatwave, the rooms not being air-conditioned. Since the fire started, plumes of smoke have been visible above the roofs, which does not prevent some passers-by from going to the park, open to all. Until then, the equivalent of 5% of the forest surface (2,050 hectares) has disappeared in smoke. A request for UNESCO world heritage status for this former royal hunting ground is in progress.