Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU to think the wildfire alert about barbecues was unnecessary?

379 replies

HollyhockDayssss · 14/08/2026 19:55

Oh My God Reaction GIF

AIBU to think the alert was unnecessary? I get wildfires are an issue but informing the public not to use bbqs isnt a life and death situation.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
7
MrsOni · 14/08/2026 21:53

scalt · 14/08/2026 21:50

Here’s an idea for an experiment: the government issues an emergency alert (full sirens and everything) reminding people not to drop litter.

Then monitor the litter. Is less of it dropped? Are these emergency alerts effective? Or would they become background noise, like the motorway signs saying “clearing up your rubbish puts lives at risk” (with its ambiguous syntax).

This is an argument that would make sense if this was the 50th alert this month. It's the first in 6 months.

Get a grip.

AmnesiacsDream · 14/08/2026 21:53

Perplexed20 · 14/08/2026 20:48

So? Some of that is just luck.

So it was inappropriate to use the alert system. Getting the information out is important, but the alert system was a terrible way to do it.

tommyhoundmum · 14/08/2026 21:52

HollyhockDayssss · 14/08/2026 19:55

AIBU to think the alert was unnecessary? I get wildfires are an issue but informing the public not to use bbqs isnt a life and death situation.

It is if you live on the edge of a common or parkland. We fire watch constantly

HewasH2O · 14/08/2026 21:51

On the same night as the large scale fire started in the NF, a hedge caught fire further diwn in the Forest, which set cars alight on people's driveways and then burnt down 2 bungalows. The houses were minutes away from a local fire station, but as all units were attending the main fire, engines had to attend from the Portsmouth area around 40 minutes away.

Yes, people are being arrested for arson, but that covers deliberately OR recklessly starting a fire. Hopefully this will make people think.

BTW, do you realise that TikTok & Netflix aren't routinely used by every household in the country?

scalt · 14/08/2026 21:50

Here’s an idea for an experiment: the government issues an emergency alert (full sirens and everything) reminding people not to drop litter.

Then monitor the litter. Is less of it dropped? Are these emergency alerts effective? Or would they become background noise, like the motorway signs saying “clearing up your rubbish puts lives at risk” (with its ambiguous syntax).

OneStarAwake · 14/08/2026 21:47

YABVU. People's houses are burning down, plants and wildlife are being destroyed because thick twats don't understand the danger or don't care. Even if it just makes one or two of the idiots think again it is worth it.

tellmewhenthespaceshiplandscoz · 14/08/2026 21:46

Nobabyyet296 · 14/08/2026 20:14

I’m don’t understand why people are bothered. It was a quick alert to warn people. Read the warning, follow it and get on with your day.

I’ve seen quite a few fire engines today and I hardly ever see any. It’s clearly a problem,

This.

musicandmen · 14/08/2026 21:45

there was a wild fire caused by a BBQ in a major park in Liverpool! Luckily it was stopped but the park is hosting a major event this weekend and lives could have been lost if it had happened tomorrow instead of yesterday

Girlwithavibe · 14/08/2026 21:45

19 houses completely burnt down
Firefighters ending up in hospital due to extreme heat exhaustion trying to put fires out in this extreme heat !
Yes it was a good idea because it reaches almost everyone !! Anyone with a phone including teenagers or younger adults that probs don't follow news outlets like BBC news !
If it's stops people doing it then it's not a bad idea it's serious when people's houses are burning down !

NetZeroZealot · 14/08/2026 21:43

Eudaimonia11 · 14/08/2026 21:20

It was ridiculous and pissed me off. The alerts should be used in emergencies only.

Fires are always an issue when we have heatwaves. They’d be better off putting it all over social media every summer - they could do things like recruiting popular TikTok influencers to spread the word. They could create informative clips that are shown in the ad breaks on Netflix and YouTube. They could create posters to put on buses, trains, billboards, etc. There’s all sorts of ways of getting the info out there to everyone without abusing the alert system.

When’s the last time you saw fires on this scale?

LastOnePlease · 14/08/2026 21:41

Eudaimonia11 · 14/08/2026 21:20

It was ridiculous and pissed me off. The alerts should be used in emergencies only.

Fires are always an issue when we have heatwaves. They’d be better off putting it all over social media every summer - they could do things like recruiting popular TikTok influencers to spread the word. They could create informative clips that are shown in the ad breaks on Netflix and YouTube. They could create posters to put on buses, trains, billboards, etc. There’s all sorts of ways of getting the info out there to everyone without abusing the alert system.

Are you serious? I assume you are joking. Fires can and do happen every year yes but this Summer is the driest summer we have had for a very. very long time. There have been a record number of fires, therefore the risk is much higher and the fire service are under significant strain. But sure, let's roll out a TikTok campaign. That's something you plan for and takes months to coordinate, we do not have months to warn about this...

Nannyfannybanny · 14/08/2026 21:39

it said on the news the fires to the houses and fields in the Midlands were arson and a woman of 29 had been arrested..2 weeks ago,it was said that most of the wildfires were started by humans. came up in the news how many idiots sought eye treatment after the eclipse,so I imagine there are plenty of idiots using disposable BBQs.

NetZeroZealot · 14/08/2026 21:39

HollyhockDayssss · 14/08/2026 19:55

AIBU to think the alert was unnecessary? I get wildfires are an issue but informing the public not to use bbqs isnt a life and death situation.

Well it literally is a life & death situation so YABU

Icecreammonster · 14/08/2026 21:38

Are you living in a parallel universe?! This is serious and people are behaving like idiots.
Fully in support of this message, it appears that many need scaring into getting out of their selfish and privileged mindset before anyone else loses their home.

NeverDropYourMooncup · 14/08/2026 21:38

tourdefrance · 14/08/2026 21:34

Surely people should just not have phones with them in surgery? Do medical professionals normally carry their phones with them at all times? I'd assume they would be limited access, with pagers being used to contact people.

Pagers aren't encrypted, there's just been a story about the multiple data breaches of patient information where they have no idea how many people or who saw this information.

LastOnePlease · 14/08/2026 21:37

Itsasecretnow · 14/08/2026 20:20

Honestly, the ignorance! Of course it can be a matter of life or death, what is wrong with you? Or just fancied a goady post because it disturbed a snooze or something, op? Who knows how much wildlife has burned to death? Or how many will die due to their habitats being burned to the ground. All these species are vital to whole of life on earth, if tue balance shifts by much it really could be absolutely disasterous to your children’s futures, or theirs. People homes have been destroyed, people have been injured… it might seem like a completely bizarre thing to issue an alert about - I don’t think, in theory, that can be denied - but what’s more bizarre, and far more worrying is that things have got so bad with climate change that we actually even need a severe alert about something like this. That in itself should show you how serious this is.

You're lucky if you don’t live near anywhere that has been affected by these wildfires, so just enjoy yourself and turn the severe alerts off on your phone if you think they’re pointless, or they disturb you. I live not far from one area that has so far been burning for over 5 days, this morning it was estimated to have destroyed the equivalent of 280 football pitches. It’s a beautiful place - one of the national parks and (I think) an area of outstanding beauty. Beyond that, though, it is land that is a protected area for so, so many animals, fauna etc and an important environmental area. Have been visiting there for my entire life. The wildlife is amazing. And, yes, it has been discovered that many of the fires were caused by disposable bbqs. The fire this week wasn’t the first there this year, there have been many over the last couple of months.

Just open your eyes and see the wider picture.

Exactly. Honestly the mind boggles, some people are incapable of seeing the bigger picture. There may NOT be a live fire near you right now but if one starts, there may be nobody around to help currently as the fire services in some places have declared major incidents and everyone is going from place to place, pitching in. We simply do not have the resources to help if many more fires start. It is already a serious risk to life right now. Bizarre that some people wilfully misunderstand.

tourdefrance · 14/08/2026 21:34

MotherofPufflings · 14/08/2026 21:07

I agree. I was literally in the middle of a life and death medical situation at work and having about 10 phones all making the alert sound, some of which were under surgical gowns and couldn't easily be stopped, did not help matters!

Surely people should just not have phones with them in surgery? Do medical professionals normally carry their phones with them at all times? I'd assume they would be limited access, with pagers being used to contact people.

Totaldramallama · 14/08/2026 21:31

It is absolutely is a life or death situation, not just to humans but all the life we share the land with. It is being destroyed and this will keep happening every hot summer because people are so incredibly stupid and seemingly, like you, have their heads completely buried in the sand. Watch the fucking news

Electricsausages · 14/08/2026 21:28

Tell that to the owners of 19 homes that have been destroyed and 18 badly damaged homes
although it’s at least 2 weeks too late

Gingernaut · 14/08/2026 21:23

It was broadcast to a nation, many of whom are suffering from retinal damage from looking at the eclipse

We are a nation of of fucking morons, sending Chinese lanterns into the sky, flicking cigarette butts into tinder dry verges, leaving glass litter to refract light and start fires, lighting fireworks, lighting barbecues, fire pits and bonfires to send fiery hot embers flying out to start more fires

Yes. It absolutely was necessary

IncyWincyEyeroll · 14/08/2026 21:21

I tell you what, I can’t bear the heat and I’m as worried about climate change and wildfires as the next person, but some of these threads are feeling veeeeery Covid Madness, aren’t they?

Someone’s going to tell me off for going to the shops to buy Easter eggs in a minute

Eudaimonia11 · 14/08/2026 21:20

It was ridiculous and pissed me off. The alerts should be used in emergencies only.

Fires are always an issue when we have heatwaves. They’d be better off putting it all over social media every summer - they could do things like recruiting popular TikTok influencers to spread the word. They could create informative clips that are shown in the ad breaks on Netflix and YouTube. They could create posters to put on buses, trains, billboards, etc. There’s all sorts of ways of getting the info out there to everyone without abusing the alert system.

Balloonhearts · 14/08/2026 21:17

Unfortunately people really are that stupid and do need the tech equivalent of having it screamed in their face.

AmandaEatsLemons · 14/08/2026 21:12

It is definitely a life and death situation! People die in wild fires!

MrsOni · 14/08/2026 21:10

Sherararara · 14/08/2026 21:01

Ah the deliberately obtuse has spoken..
Have a look at the knife crime epidemic. Let’s send a message about carrying knives.
Have a look at climate change, let’s send a message recommending everyone buy electric cars.
Have a look at road accidents statistics, let’s send a message not to speed…
There are a thousand topics you could chose that all have far greater economic, health and personal impacts than fires.

Spoken truly like someone who doesn't understand the risks, and how easily they can be mitigated if people just don't act like twats.

Unlike your other examples.