France wildfires: Gironde and Landes suffer hazardous air quality UPDATED

Air quality levels across southwestern France have plummeted to hazardous levels on Wednesday, July 29, as intense wildfires continue to blanket the Gironde and Landes departments in toxic smoke, regional environmental authorities warned.

Atmo Nouvelle-Aquitaine, the official air quality monitoring agency for the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, reported that daily air quality indices across the impacted zones have fallen between "very poor" and "extremely poor".

The agency attributed the severe ecological degradation directly to active forest fires, which have flooded the atmosphere with dangerous concentrations of fine particulate matter, including PM2.5 and PM10 particles. These fine suspended particulates pose significant respiratory health risks as they penetrate deep into lungs and cardiovascular systems.

Environmental scientists noted that the atmospheric pollution in southwestern France is being compounded by a dual threat: heavy smoke plumes from burning timber coupled with surging ground-level ozone concentrations. Unseasonably high temperatures and intense sunlight across the region are accelerating chemical reactions in the atmosphere, driving up ozone pollution alongside fire-generated soot and ash.

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At least 126 firefighters have sustained injuries as emergency services struggle to contain the largest wildfire in French history amid an escalating heatwave in the southwestern department of Gironde.

Hundreds of emergency responders have been working around the clock since the blaze broke out a week ago. Local authorities, cited by French media, noted that while several new fire hotspots emerged overnight, containment efforts have held firm. "The night was quiet," a spokesperson for the Gironde prefecture reported on Wednesday.

However, meteorologists warn that weather conditions are expected to deteriorate rapidly, with temperatures forecast to climb as high as 42 degrees Celsius (107.6 Fahrenheit) across Gironde on July 29. The extreme heat and low humidity threaten to reignite dormant embers and accelerate the spread of active fire fronts.

To combat the historic inferno, emergency authorities have mobilised approximately 2,500 firefighters, including specialised international reinforcement units from Switzerland. The firefighting contingent is supported on the ground by 1,500 French military personnel and 1,200 police officers tasked with managing large-scale civilian evacuations and securing perimeter zones across the disaster area.

By Tamilla Hasanova