Fontaine strikes to earn Bristol City a point at Ashton Gate
Having failed to beat Forest at home in 10 attempts since 1974, the Robins found themselves trailing and heading for defeat with just 10 minutes remaining.
That was the cue for centre-back Fontaine to score only his third senior goal, crashing in a dramatic equaliser from the edge of the penalty area to salvage a point for Gary Johnson's side.
But City spurned a heaven-sent opportunity to claim all three points when they were awarded a penalty deep into time added on.
Substitute Stern John went down under pressure from Luke Chambers and referee Graham Horwood pointed to the spot, only for Forest keeper Lee Camp to guess correctly and keep out Michael McIndoe's effort with a fine one-handed save.
It was McIndoe's second miss from the spot in as many games.
Forest had twice taken the lead, Joe Garner opening the scoring on 11 minutes and Nathan Tyson adding a second shortly after the half-time break.
But Marvin Elliott kept City in touch when lashing in his first goal of the season from long range and Fontaine then made sure of the point which was the very least the home team deserved.
City boss Johnson was forced to make a change at half-time, withdrawing the injured Jamie McCombe and sending on Cole Skuse to operate alongside Fontaine in the centre of defence.
Forest immediately exploited the switch, Chambers aiming a lofted through ball in the direction of Tyson, who shrugged off Skuse and surged into the penalty area to beat Basso with a firm shot, which the Brazilian keeper managed to get a hand to but couldn't keep out.
It was a soft goal to concede and left City with a proverbial mountain to climb once more.
They squandered a wonderful opportunity to equalise moments later, Johnson crossing from the right and Elliott firing over from close range under pressure from former Yeovil midfielder Chris Cohen.
Johnson threw caution to the wind thereafter, introducing strikers Stern John and Nicky Maynard and adopting a more attack-minded 4-3-3 formation in an attempt to rescue the situation.
Forest defended resolutely but eventually cracked 10 minutes from time. The visitors failed to clear their lines and up stepped Fontaine to lash in an unstoppable shot from the edge of the 18 yard box.
There was still more drama to come and Camp made a fine one-handed save to keep out McIndoe's penalty after Chambers had pushed John inside the 18 yard area.
Bristol City: Basso, Orr, McCombe, Fontaine, Brian Wilson, Williams, Elliott, Johnson, McIndoe, Noble, Adebola. Subs: Weale, Maynard, Skuse, Sproule, John.
Nottm Forest: Camp, Chambers, Morgan, Wilson, Heath, Anderson, Perch, Thornhill, Cohen, Tyson, Garner. Subs: Smith, Breckin, McCleary, Fletcher, Newbold. Referee: Graham Horwood (Bedfordshire)
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