Fires: What precautions should be taken for health?

Fires: What health precautions should be taken?

July 31, 2026

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By Thaïs de Bastard THE July 31, 2026 at 8:58 AM Subscribers

In response to the wildfires raging across France, FFP2 masks have been distributed en masse and hundreds of thousands of people evacuated. What are the health risks associated with these fires, and what precautions should be taken? A professor of pulmonology explains.

On the front line of fires, firefighters have a higher than average prevalence of asthma and mesothelioma, a cancer affecting the pleura, the protective membrane of the lungs.

Jeanne Accorsini/SIPA

With over 116,000 hectares burned, 2026 set a grim record for wildfires in France. In the Southwest, over 220,000 people had to leave their homes, representing " the largest exodus since the Second World WarAccording to the German daily newspaper, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

Alongside these mass evacuations, more than 5 million FFP2 masks have been made available to residents in pharmacies in Dordogne, Gironde, Landes, and Lot-et-Garonne. Indeed, ash and fine particles can be carried by the wind for hundreds of kilometers from their point of origin.

Fire Fire Gironde Air pollution