French President Jacques Chirac said today a forest blaze which killed three firemen near the Riviera resort of St Tropez was probably started deliberately.
The firefighters were burnt to death yesterday when their vehicle was trapped in a fire raging through the Maures nature park north of St Tropez. Forest fires killed four people in the south of France in July.
"There is good reason to suspect criminal acts," Mr Chirac told the victims' colleagues in the village of La Garde-Freinet after after he flew by helicopter over the forest, where emergency services are still battling the fire.
"I have told the government to launch an operation that will only end with the culprits being found and punished in exemplary fashion...I have asked the justice minister to pay close attention to the sentences they get," he said.
Some 54,000 hectares (133,000 acres) of land have been ravaged by fire since the start of what has been one of the driest years in decades.
A 29-year-old man admitted in July to starting some of the fires that tore through the Riviera region, and risks up to 10 years in prison.
Mr Chirac said nearly 90 arrests had been made in connection with forest fires over the summer. Many of those convicted in the past have been youths. Other arsonists have turned out to be grudge-bearing rejects from the fire service.
The fight to control the fires continued today with army reinforcements on alert and water-carrying aircraft dousing blazing woodland. Firefighters said they were making some progress, despite warm, dry weather.