Conclusion and Outlook

Fires, whether they occur in industrial facilities, urban buildings, or natural areas, have significant environmental impacts that often extend beyond the immediate vicinity of the incident. These impacts manifest across different time scales: acute effects on air and water quality, subacute impacts linked to dispersion and secondary deposition, and chronic contamination by persistent pollutants such as heavy metals, dioxins, or PFAS. In addition to these local consequences, there are global effects, notably the contribution of megafires to climate change through massive CO ₂ emissions and the alteration of biogeochemical cycles.

The assessment and management of these impacts are now based on standardized guidelines, in particular the ISO 26367 series of standards, which defines sampling and analysis methods, as well...