AIBU to think the wildfire alert about barbecues was unnecessary?

You really are ignorant aren’t you? Shall I spell it out for you?

People lighting fires irresponsibly could cause any part of the UK to set alight and potentially burn more people’s homes. The government don’t want that to happen. So they decided to tell people to stop being dicks with fire. It was urgent. It wasn’t dramatic and it was also never the intention the national alert system would only ever be used for actual threat to life. If people need to evacuate their homes the police/fire service knock on the doors and get them out - they don’t rely on a text message! 🙈😫

Of course the situation was serious - for those families and anyone nearby....but the whole point of the alert system, supposedly, was it was supposed to be targetted.

Sure if you're downwind of a fire ATM, that's when you need all the klaxons etc...otherwise,.no...alarm/alert fatigue/what's sometimes called the Crying Wolf effect kicks in, and it's dangerous..

We've already had discussions here and elsewhere about how to disable the alerts...looking ahead that is serious.

Have some cutted up pear & have a nap.

It will make sense when you're a bit bigger

We're just going to have to fundamentally disagree on this I'm afraid.

The psychologists/human factors experts and others that look at accidents in things like the transport industries and even medicine generally really really really don't like alarm systems that are easily triggered and/or perhaps too frequently triggered.

Reason being there's a danger that people get habituated ("it'll only be the usual Monday practice a bit early, I'm not rushing") or start treating frequent alarms as false ("that thing is always going off") and cancel without reading, maybe perhaps even disable the warning system itself.....all the above has happened in the real world and disabling alerts has been mentioned on MN and elsewhere.

What is done is done, but HMG do need to be a bit careful about issuing blanket high level alerts/alarms when and where there is no need.

I would have been more accepting if they would have directed the message to areas most severely impacted.

All of which would be true if this wasn't just the second time an alert had been issued, but say the 20th, and if people like you weren't severely underestimating the risks wildfires present.

We're just going to have to fundamentally disagree on this I'm afraid.

The psychologists/human factors experts and others that look at accidents in things like the transport industries and even medicine generally really really really don't like alarm systems that are easily triggered and/or perhaps too frequently triggered.

Reason being there's a danger that people get habituated ("it'll only be the usual Monday practice a bit early, I'm not rushing") or start treating frequent alarms as false ("that thing is always going off") and cancel without reading, maybe perhaps even disable the warning system itself.....all the above has happened in the real world and disabling alerts has been mentioned on MN and elsewhere.

What is done is done, but HMG do need to be a bit careful about issuing blanket high level alerts/alarms when and where there is no need.

Schools and employers have fire drills so that people recognise the sound and know what to do when it happens, rather than panicking, run around shrieking that we're all going to die, posting on Mumsnet or claiming it's all a conspiracy.

This is no different. A test to familiarise people with the sound and to make sure that they know it's a fucking stupid idea to light fires at the moment.

Do we (I'm sure that somebody is going to say yes, just to be contrary) complain that getting people to not attempt to use lifts, to make their way to a designated assembly point and wait for their presence to be recorded before they are told they can return to the building is utterly stupid and means that everybody will refuse to react when the alarms go off?

Of course the situation was serious - for those families and anyone nearby....but the whole point of the alert system, supposedly, was it was supposed to be targetted.

Sure if you're downwind of a fire ATM, that's when you need all the klaxons etc...otherwise,.no...alarm/alert fatigue/what's sometimes called the Crying Wolf effect kicks in, and it's dangerous..

We've already had discussions here and elsewhere about how to disable the alerts...looking ahead that is serious.

Exactly my point! There was no need to use an alert to tell people something they should already know.

19 families lost their homes - how is that not serious?

Do I really need a government alert to tell me that? You see it said in the message that if you see flames you should dial 999 and when lots of people did just that, the fire service complained that they were overwhelmed with calls.
I think someone messed up badly.

But the whole country isn't on fire.

Frankly, just my IMO,.if you're going to be ringing bells/klaxons or whatever in a household it should be for situations such as "you may need to evacuate now,.there is a problem locally"....it shouldn't be used for a nationwide "mind how you go".

If you have to send that type of message (and I accept there may be a need) I don't see the need for all the bells...it devalues the serious alerts.

Thankyou. You have understood the gist of what I am saying.

I mean, if you don't know that, then there really isn't any helping you is there.

Call 999

“No prime minister would have Downing Street parties in lockdown - they wouldn’t be that stupid”, people probably said, before it came to light that they did exactly that.

Dogs and cats living together, that's where it ends.

Dogs and cats living together, that's where it ends.

How do you know it is not going to happen? Once the government of the day realises it can get away with sending messages to your phone on whatever subject they like and people will take notice, who knows where it will end?

How do you know it is not going to happen? Once the government of the day realises it can get away with sending messages to your phone on whatever subject they like and people will take notice, who knows where it will end?

Just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean that the government isn't out to get me.

Just because you are not paranoid doesn't mean the government isn't out to get you too.