Burning eyes, itchy nose. The inhabitants of Ile-de-France were able to feel inconvenienced by a smell of smoke on the evening of Tuesday, July 19. And it is absolutely necessary that it comes from the fires which are currently affecting the Gironde. “There are many high levels of particles in Ile-de-France which would be linked to this rise in air mass loaded with particles from the fires in Gironde, coupled, on a more local scale, with other fires. “confirms Airparif at AFP.
Regarding a possible episode of air pollution, “we cannot completely rule out that this leads to an overrun of the first particle information threshold and a pollution peak over the day”, indicates the agency which monitors air quality in Ile-de-France. In several places, the organization measured concentrations of the order of 100 micrograms per cubic meter, “but these are hourly levels, while the particle thresholds are on daily averages”he said, while he must carry out an analysis.
Particle concentrations are currently rising sharply in connection with a rise in air mass impacted by the fires in Gironde and local fires in Ile de France.
— Airparif (@Airparif) July 19, 2022
In a tweet, the Paris police headquarters calls in any case the inhabitants of Ile-de-France not to contact the firefighters about this burning smell. Without asserting that it is caused by the fires in Gironde, she explains that she “certainly comes from the ongoing fires raging in France”.
ℹ️ You may smell a burning smell outside. This smell certainly comes from the ongoing fires that are raging in France.
The reason ? The versatility of the wind.☎️ 18: don’t clutter the help lines. Only call the fire department if there is a fire. pic.twitter.com/X8FfjUCZO9
— Prefecture of Police (@prefpolice) July 19, 2022
Contacted by franceinfo on Tuesday evening, Météo France estimates “quite possible” that the smoke from the fires in Gironde has reached Ile-de-France, even if it is “difficult to say” for sure. After having been carried by the winds for 600 km, all that remains are residues, incommensurate with “how the inhabitants of the affected regions feel”. The smell should be by the rain expected in the Paris region overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday.
Orléans, Tours, Eur-et-Loir… Other regions of France, quite far from the Gironde, were also affected: “Due to a change in wind direction, smoke odors from the Gironde fires are felt in Haute-Vienne”for example, also tweeted the prefect of the department.