BBQ party tonight

I just don’t trust the BBQ brigade to all act totally sensibly. En masse, if 10,000 people have garden bbqs at the moment, something somewhere could go badly wrong. As a collective, I think we have a duty of care to one another just to not bother having a bbq. I’m cancelling the one I was going to have tonight (even though it’s a large closed bbq and my husband always stays with it 100% of the time and we would have buckets of water and it’s even near our hose, and we’re really responsible people). However, as a collective we all need to pull together. Missing a burger is hardly a sacrifice. There was a lot of selfish behaviour in Covid which was theoretically ok, but common sense suggested the perpetrator was just a tad selfish.

JFC. They have a bbq and pizza oven. Hardly unheard off.

It takes a tiny bit of sparking on dry grass, bone dry fencing, bone dry trees to spread. The phrase ‘spreading like wildfire’ is a simile because nothing moves like it. You’d be mad.

Honestly this once, could you not do some pulled pork in the oven or something?

Also depending on where you live you’ll
probably have neighbours knocking on the door and, at worst, calling the fire brigade which might spoil the party mood! We’ve had a few fires near me- we live very close to heathland- so we’re all on red alert at the moment.

She's using a magical one with no heat or sparks

I think the risk is probably minimal but I wouldn’t take it myself.

The level of risk will also depend on how big your garden is and what it’s got in it at the moment. Even though charcoal has no naked flame I would worry that if the BBQ was tipped up, or some charcoal fell out and landed on the floor it might be incredibly difficult to stop a fire spreading at the moment in my own garden (which is dry as a bone). In Scotland last week though I probably would have been fine with it.

Our big green egg is actually next to the pool.

In the very unlikely event it erupts into an uncontrollable fire tonight, I'll push it into the pool. I hope that will satisfy the fire wardens on here.

The alert only mentioned disposable bbqs.

people virtue signalling to show who can comply with and follow the rules the most are very weird! Giving Covid mask monitors

just be sensible. Obviously don’t bbq on a very dry lawn, have extinguishers to hand etc

You are part of the problem

Love this

Congratulations. You get a 🏅for the most subtle boast post.

It’s only a silver, would have been a gold if you had pointed out that you could use the water from the swimming pool in the unlikely event of fire.😍

We’re going ahead with our planned BBQ at home today. The is nothing in the guidance prohibiting it and it’s perfectly safe. People have lost their minds over this, getting flashbacks to covid times. It’s like some enjoy the chance to overreact hysterically and virtue signal about how they’re going over and above to comply with rules that don’t even exist.

I'm glad someone posted a link to the actual gov guidance. I said last night the alert was unclear re normal bbqs. Don't be surprised if someone dobs you in though lol

On the contrary - it's the alert that has caused all the issues because it was incorrectly sent out as an 'emergency' when it could have been sent as a public information text and it could have been more specific and given more guidance so that people didn't end up insulting each other like they are doing on this thread. They could have simply said 'do not have bbqs' but they didn't. So now everyone is getting hysterical - surely banning smoking would be the most effective way to stop wildfires!

Just heard on the radio that the Fire Service have had to put out a message asking people not to ring 999 to report their neighbours having bbqs!

Fireworks here too the other night. Totally and utterly stupid.

@Sherararara good for you on doing a through and new risk assessment for a few cooked sausages, not sure of I could be arsed.

To be less sarcastic I am not sure I currently know the risk of fire in my garden as this situation is not at all normal and I have no idea how vegetation this dry will react to heat or even small sparks.

• Immediate ban on disposable barbecues introduced to help prevent further fires

People across England and Wales will receive an Emergency Alert on their phones today as the Government steps up action to protect communities from the growing threat posed by wildfires.
The alert, that will be sent on a rolling basis from approximately 19:00, will warn people not to light anything that could spark a fire, including barbecues, campfires, and fireworks.
This guidance is somewhat contradictory!

• Immediate ban on disposable barbecues introduced to help prevent further fires

I just don’t get why having the food cooked over charcoal is such a deal breaker. You are having some friends over for a meal in the garden, which is lovely and surely the main point of the evening. I would be watching nervously if there was a BBQ lit atm by my BBQ loving neighbours. Cook inside and bring it out, sure it’s a change in plans but you’d change them if it suddenly tipped down - soggy DH bring food inside possibly but you’d have still have the gathering still and have a nice evening

A gas bbq is highly unlikely to cause a fire and I wouldn’t care if my neighbours had one

Hasn’t been banned but anyone sensible would clearly think “maybe best not eh”

It hasn't been banned, it's also cooling down now so it'll be fine. I don't think you need to cancel or amend your bbq

God some of you love enforcing a rule. Huge difference between cheepo disposable bbq on bricks or a bonfire and a proper gas bbq. Which hasn’t been banned.

Goodness - so long as you are using your BBQ on the patio and not on the floor in the middle of yellowed grass [ie like normal people], using a proper BBQ is fine. The risk of disposable BBS is that people light them and place them on the ground, usually in parks and gardens, so they can spark a fire. It;s not rocket scence.

Cannot understand the level of discourse on this. Just have your flipping BBQ as planned.