A Canadair was damaged during an intervention on the Fontainebleau fire and had to be removed from the device

One less plane to fight fires. A Canadair was damaged during an intervention on the fire in Fontainebleau (Seine-et-Marne), franceinfo learned from the Ministry of the Interior, Tuesday July 21. The plane “sustained minor damage resulting in temporary unavailability”said this source, without giving further details on the nature of the accident. “In accordance with aeronautical safety procedures, the device was immediately removed from the device in order to undergo the necessary inspection and maintenance operations. Its return to service is planned in the coming days”announced the Ministry of the Interior.

Up to four Canadairs – or a third of the French fleet – were mobilized in mid-July in Seine-et-Marne to control the fire which ravaged more than 2,000 hectares in the Fontainebleau forest.

This accident thus reduced the number of these amphibious water bombers available to fight the flames. “This type of occasional unavailability constitutes a classic hazard of a particularly committed aeronautical fleet meeting significant safety requirements”assures the Ministry of the Interior. According to Place Beauvau, the damage suffered by the Canadair did not “not called into question the operational capacity of Civil Security”.

Controversy over France’s air assets

The debate around aerial means of fighting fires has emerged again in recent weeks in the face of the increase in fires throughout France. “Since the start of 2026, fires have already covered more than 40,000 hectares across France. This is already more than in all of 2025”announced the Minister of Ecological Transition, Monique Barbut, Tuesday July 21. However, France currently has only twelve Canadairs, one of which is still under repair after an accident in Corsica in May 2025 and another, therefore, immobilized for several days after being damaged in Seine-et-Marne in mid-July.

Faced with criticism, Emmanuel Macron affirmed, Thursday July 16, while traveling in the forest of Fontainebleau, that he had “relaunched Canadair production” since his arrival at the Élysée. France signed an order for two additional aircraft at the beginning of June – promised by the Head of State after the fires of summer 2022. They should be delivered in 2032 or 2033, assures the government, and will be added to the first two DHC-515s ordered in 2024 thanks to the support of the European Commission and which “will be delivered in April and November 2028 respectively”, according to the Minister of the Interior.

With the leasing of additional water bomber planes and helicopters, the country currently has“around forty” aerial vehicles, according to Laurent Nuñez, who highlighted one of the aerial fleets “among the most efficient in Europe” to fight fires.