As Megafires Multiply, France Staffs Up Mental Health Support for Firefighters

How France’s Fire Brigades Are Confronting the Psychological Fallout of Megafires

At the Oise departmental fire station near Paris-Beauvais airport, two red trucks roar out on a call. This summer, as historic wildfires ravaged the Pyrénées-Orientales, Gironde and Var, many of the brigade’s volunteers have been deployed as reinforcements. The days and nights spent fighting megafires leave a mark that extends well beyond physical exhaustion, and the return to the station can be its own ordeal. A quiet but deliberate effort is now under way inside the Oise medical service to make sure no firefighter carries the burden alone.

“You cannot separate the physical from the mental,” says Colonel Dr Thierry Senez, head of health services at the Oise SDIS. “We want them ready to face high-emotion situations: an attack, a child’s death, the loss of a colleague.” According to France’s National Firefighters’ Mutual, 16% of first responders deployed during the 2015 terrorist attacks later reported an anxiety disorder, and 33.8% of firefighters may be affected by at least one operational stress disorder. The numbers are pushing mental health higher up the agenda. In 2024, the fire services’ health units recorded 5,893 medico-psychological interventions.

“Resources are constantly rising, though there is always more to do,” says Dr Senez, who has served more than four decades. He points to a relentless operational tempo: “With climate change, we see more fire, snowstorms, floods and other natural disasters. We are on permanent alert.” Today, any firefighter can contact one of the 373 psychologists attached to the SDIS—roughly one for every 700 firefighters—but only about 30 are permanent, contracted staff. The rest work on an as-needed basis.

In her office at the Oise Psychological Support Unit, psychologist Jessie Berton offers a space governed by professional secrecy. “It is not therapy,” she explains. “It is accompaniment, and if we detect a need, we direct the person to longer-term outside therapy.” Observation is the first tool: she watches for isolation, sleep disturbance or other signs of unwellness. A simple call from the line of a fire can start the process. Back at the station, a recommendation from a commanding officer can trigger a session. To bypass the stubborn image of the invincible sapeur-pompier, Berton has an unofficial helper: Undi, a two-year-old dog whose presence helps reduce cortisol. When Undi trots between the trucks, the firefighters gather. “You see, it works,” Berton says, smiling. A senior officer who just flagged a team returning from a particularly hard intervention receives a quiet word of thanks. Some of those team members, struggling, have since been taken in hand.

Inside the Oise SDIS: A Growing Network of 373 Psychologists and Low-Cost Interventions

The Scale of the Problem

The 33.8% prevalence of operational stress disorders flagged by the National Firefighters’ Mutual is a stark number, and it almost certainly underestimates the true toll as climate change forces more frequent and intense interventions. The 5,893 medico-psychological interventions recorded in 2024 across all SDIS units represent a sharp rise in demand, driven in part by the back-to-back megafires that have become a feature of French summers. While the headline figure suggests a system under strain, the fact that those interventions were logged also shows the fire services are building a data trail that can be used to justify further resources—an important step for public-sector budget negotiations.

The Cost and Infrastructure of Care

With 373 psychologists serving roughly 260,000 firefighters nationwide, France has roughly one mental-health professional per 700 personnel. However, only a fraction of those posts are permanent; most psychologists work on contract, which limits the continuity of care and the institutional knowledge that builds trust. Jessie Berton’s unit illustrates both the strengths and the gaps. A therapy dog like Undi—effectively a zero-budget intervention—can lower a first responder’s cortisol and serve as an entry point for more formal support. For cash-constrained departments, low-cost, high-touch tools matter. The reliance on field observation and peer-spotting training, rather than expensive screening programs, also keeps the cost per intervention low while expanding the safety net. For the insurers and mutuals that underwrite firefighter health, the model could point toward a prevention-first approach that reduces long-term claims.

Climate Change and the Future of Emergency Services

Colonel Senez’s remark that “we are on permanent alert” captures the operational shift. As fires, floods and storms multiply, the mental-health burden will become a recurring cost of doing business for emergency services—not a spike after a single event. Departments that fail to build psychological support into their baseline budgets will face rising attrition, disability claims and, eventually, a harder time recruiting. The French model, still uneven, shows that even a modest investment in permanent psychologists and peer training can create a system where asking for help is no longer a career risk. For other European countries watching, the data from the Mutuelle nationale and the experience of units like Oise may become the benchmark.

Lessons for Emergency Service Leaders from France’s Mental Health Push

• Staff at the 1:700 ratio but make the posts permanent. France’s 373 psychologists serve roughly 260,000 firefighters, yet only about 30 are permanent. For continuity and trust, departments should budget for a higher proportion of in-house, permanently contracted mental-health professionals.
• Integrate peer-spotting into initial training. The Oise unit trains firefighters to recognise a colleague who suddenly isolates themselves or reacts inappropriately. Rolling this into all entry-level curricula costs little and catches distress before it becomes a crisis.
• Deploy low-cost, animal-assisted support. Undi the cortisol-lowering dog is a zero-budget addition that breaks down resistance. Even a single facility dog can become a vital entry point to the psychological pathway.
• Require mandatory psychological check-ins after multi-day emergencies. The officer who flagged a team in Oise had a “good reflex”. Formalising this as standard post-deployment procedure ensures no one falls through the cracks.
• Use mutual insurer data to build the business case. The National Firefighters’ Mutual’s statistic—33.8% of firefighters potentially affected by operational stress—provides a hard number that budget-setters and insurers can use to justify permanent mental-health budgets rather than ad-hoc crisis funding.