As wildfires continue to burn across France, representatives of firefighters' unions said they would go on strike in September to protest a lack of resources. Despite a meeting with the interior minister on Thursday, they say they are unhappy with the government's response so far.
Issued on: 14/08/2026 - 13:39
3 min Reading time
In the midst of a summer marked by heatwaves and deadly fires, a coalition of unions representing France's fire and rescue services met with Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez for nearly two hours on Thursday afternoon. They presented three main demands: more funding to cope with a surge in emergency calls, mass recruitment of professional firefighters and new legislation to modernise civil protection services. "The minister failed to deliver; we received no concrete answer. We have no assurances regarding funding, the funding strategy or the content of the legislation," commented union spokesperson Xavier Boy. He said resources allocated to firefighting had not kept pace with a rising number of interventions and multiplying crises. Deadly summer The unions have called for "intensive mobilisation" on 29 September, when public sector workers are also planning to go on strike. Professional firefighters are also planning to protest for three days beforehand at the Place de la République in Paris, David Saquet of the Unsa firefighters' union told French news agency AFP. Firefighters say they are exhausted after what has been one of France's worst wildfire seasons in history, with at least 120,000 hectares burnt since the beginning of the summer, according to provisional estimates. The summer has also been deadly, with four firefighters losing their lives.
