Paris, Jul 29 (IANS): As the wildfires in southeast France's department of Ardeche were finally brought under control, a suspect placed in custody admitted to starting the blaze, local media reported.
The suspect, a 44-year-old man, was in an inebriated state when arrested, Xinhua news agency quoted French news channel BFMTV as saying on Thursday night.
The suspect was arrested "with numerous testimonies collected by the investigators who made it possible to identify with certainty a dark colour Ford 4x4 present at the start of the fires", said the prosecutor of Privas.
The wildfires broke out on Wednesday morning in Ardeche.
According to BFMTV, at least 600 firefighters were mobilised to bring under control the fires that burned 1,000 hectares of land.
No casualties have been reported so far.