OREANDA-NEWS  French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said that since the beginning of summer, 402 people, including 156 minors, have been detained on suspicion of involvement in wildfires in the country.

"To date, security forces have detained 402 people in connection with deliberate or unintentional arson attacks," he said at a press conference.

According to the Interior Ministry, since the beginning of summer, 14 thousand fires have been recorded in the country, 120 thousand hectares have been burned by fires.

There is an "orange" weather hazard level in 16 departments due to the heat. According to meteorologists, the high temperature in France will last until Friday.

A fire has been raging in the Department of the Var for two weeks, with 1,000 firefighters working to extinguish it.