The unimolecular decomposition of the halogenated methanes CF2HCl (one main channel) and CF2Cl2 (two main channels) in the focused beam of a pulsed CO2 laser under high pressure and fluence conditions (p=100 Pa-2 kPa; Phi=5-200 J/cm(2)) was studied by a special laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) technique, permitting spatially resolved fragment concentration measurements in the focal region. Considerable amounts of CF2 product were formed after the end of the laser pulse. In the one-channel-dissociation case of CF2HCl LIF measurements of the CF2 yield distribution Y(z,r) can be related to the spatial distribution of the average absorbed energy in the parent molecules. Only part of the absorbed energy is consumed by multiphoton dissociation, while most reactant molecules remain highly vibrationally excited in the focus volume far into the double cone. Using the long-lived CF2 also as a probe for measuring the rotational, translational, and vibrational temperatures, the redistribution of the internal energy in the molecules and fragments involved is monitored. The post-pulse production of CF2 is shown to be caused by the energy pooling v-v transfer mechanism, while contributions of pyrolytic and gas dynamic processes are of little importance.