Colonel Frédéric Duprez and staff evacuated approximately 150 horses [1] from the Grand Parquet equestrian centre on Monday due to a nearby forest fire.
The emergency operation highlights the extreme danger posed by the blaze to both livestock and infrastructure in the Seine-et-Marne region. The speed of the fire's spread forced a rapid response to prevent mass animal casualties.
Duprez said the evacuation occurred in a state of haste. He said the situation was a form of urgency driven by the proximity of the flames.
To manage the crisis, the response relied on a local mobilization involving horse owners and professionals, Duprez said. This coordination was supplemented by digital tools, including a WhatsApp group used to facilitate mutual aid, and the movement of animals.
Emergency services deployed 500 firefighters [4] to battle the flames in the Fontainebleau forest. The scale of the fire has been described as exceptional, with reports on the total area burned varying between more than 800 hectares [3] and approximately 1,000 hectares [2].
The Grand Parquet centre faced an immediate threat because the proximity of the fire made the risk difficult to assess in real time. The rapid evacuation was necessary to ensure the safety of the animals as the perimeter of the fire shifted.
““the evacuation s’est passée dans la précipitation””
The scale of this evacuation and the deployment of 500 firefighters underscore the increasing volatility of forest fires in France during peak summer heat. The reliance on informal communication networks like WhatsApp for animal evacuation suggests a gap in formal emergency protocols for equestrian facilities in high-risk zones.
