France confronts arson problem after devastating summer of wildfires

Experts believe one-third of wildfires in France are set deliberately, with arson the biggest single cause of forest fires last yearOne is a boy of 15, who threw a burning cigarette into a wood near Bordeaux. Another is a 36-year-old man who set a paper bag of rubbish on fire in bushes near Perpignan. A third is a 50-year-old woman accused of lighting 17 fires south of La Rochelle.According to the French interior ministry, since the start of a summer in which a record 115,000 hectares of forest, scrub and heathland have gone up in flames, 514 people – including 198 minors – have been arrested on suspicion of starting wildfires. Continue reading...