Trend summary
- Fire and rescue services attended 234,702 fires in 2024, 15% fewer than in 2023 and about a third below 2009. Death certificates recorded 423 deaths from fire and smoke in 2016.
- Smoke alarms have been compulsory in every home since March 2015. Fires at waste sites rose 55% in 2025, and the Notre-Dame and Lubrizol fires of 2019 reshaped the rules for buildings and industry.
- Wildfires had a record start to 2026: 119,000 hectares burned by 31 July, well above the roughly 72,000 ha of the whole 2022 season.
Fewer fires, new risksHome fires
423 fire deaths in 2016 (death certificates); smoke alarms compulsory in every home since March 2015.
MixedBuilding fires
234,702 fires attended in 2024, down a third since 2009, but waste-site fires hit a record in 2025.
Record seasonWildfires
119,000 ha burned by 31 July 2026, a record; the 2022 season burned about 72,000 ha.
How this page is built. Figures come from the official statistical releases and research linked above; where agencies publish provisional numbers we say so, because they are revised. National death data come from Inserm’s cause-of-death centre (CépiDc) and take two to three years to finalise, and some figures cover metropolitan France only while others include the overseas departments, so we say which year, area and source each figure covers. Money is given in euros. Headlines and quotes are our translations from French. Photos are public-domain or Creative Commons images credited in each caption; file photos are illustrative and are not from the events described unless the caption says so. This page tracks trends and is not personal safety, medical, legal or financial advice.