AIBU to think heatwave barbecue reactions are starting to feel a bit Covid?

https://www.essex-fire.gov.uk/incidents/garden-fire-started-gas-bbq-spreads-aviary-shed-and-decking-2025-08-24-03-58

"Our firefighters were called to a garden fire in Harlow which started from a gas BBQ and spread to decking, a fence and a neighbouring aviary.
Thankfully, there were no birds inside. Crews quickly tackled the fire and made the area safe."

See my post above. This fire might not have caused a wildfire, but it did require the fire services to attend, thereby increasing the burden of the fire service and reducing their availability to attend when fires are greatly increased during drought conditions.

I hadn't realised this was so hard for the public to comprehend, but here we go.

I know, ridiculous. You would think common sense might prevail, and instead of agonising over what type of fire I have a right to start, just don't light a fire at all

I think people are missing some of the point of reducing BBQs and reducing risk of fire in general.

If we reduce the risk of ANY house fire, we'll be reducing the burden on fire services.

Some of the risk, however small, will come from home BBQs being unattended, not put out properly, or fuel not being used properly. So they're trying to reduce risk as much as possible.

Cigarette ends are obviously going to be a risk but I guess if you're the kind of muppet who flicks lit ends around you're probably not going to stop doing it.

From a gas bbq on someone back patio? Link please.

I think the alerts should be saved for when there is something concrete that I have to do. Like evacuate or (god forbid) duck and cover. Otherwise people stop paying attention because we get so much messaging everywhere all the time. You can issue info via the press and social media without it being a push message alert.

I had no BBQ or fire starting plans so it was a waste of useful adrenaline my end.

YABU.

Nature reserve at the end of the road was set on fire yesterday by some dickhead’s discarded cigarette. It was caught by a dog walker who alerted the fire service. They thankfully managed to put it out before it spread to the houses.

Common Sense isn’t common unfortunately. People are fucking morons.

Personally, I’d like to see disposable bbqs banned entirely - every year they lead to fires and the mess they generate is ridiculous.

Google says phones off stops it.

OTT? People's homes have been burned to the ground and miles of countryside destroyed. On the continent people have died from fires for the same reasons.

This was done To death a year ago in the test alert. It’s straight forward to turn off alerts. DA support services are well versed in advising it also

When you give advice, do you do it because you want to show how great you are?

Do you ever tell people not to do things purely because you enjoy it, and not to clarify a sensible course of action?

Or do you do it because you think it's necessary and proportionate in your situations?

You have to turn off the alerts by going into the settings, being off doesn't stop it

I don't think people are "expressing their virtue" they are just being reasonable and thoughtful humans by following the spirit of the alert.

We have a weber gas grill that sits on our patio against a brick wall. Totally different from a throw away disposable bbq being used on a dry grass field.

Surely most grown up people have common sense?

The alert was OTT in my opinion. It takes the focus away from why the government isn’t busy sorting out new reservoirs and dealing with how pipes will be renewed. (And no, saying renationalise isn’t a solution- we need a plan for pipe renewal and reservoirs either way.)

I think if their phone is off the alert doesn't come on? I imagine I would have mine off if I had an emergency phone and only use it when I needed to, so that I could avoid having to charge it somewhere it might be seen.

It is just like Covid, all the people checking everyone else, thinking they are right, expressing their virtue on here and other online places, making up rules to suit themselves.

You’ll get short shrift from them. They are specifically asking people not to call 999 when someone has a BBQ, as they are being inundated with calls.

I can't believe people are having BBQs in this weather. Surely the hosepipe ban was a hint that they needed to avoid lighting fires.

The only issue I feel about the whole thing is the fact that some vulnerable people have secret phones and that announcement wouldve caused them issues.

They want to be informed if someone is using a normal bbq in their garden? No they dont, the gov guidance says you can use normal bbqs at home as long as you dont leave them unattended.

If we learned anything from Covid, it’s that people can be stupid, thoughtless and selfish and it’s important to spell things out if it puts people at risk.

I work in paeds. We will often tell parents they can clean various wounds, skin conditions, conjunctivitis etc with cooled boiled water. Every practitioner I know literally repeats the cooled part multiple times and has the parents repeat it back several times. I’m sure you can guess why.

I live near a popular tourist spot and have twice in the last week had to put out smouldering disposable bbqs that I came across whilst walking the dog. Nobody needs a burger so badly it’s worth setting fire to half of the county.

If people think not having a BBQ for a couple of weeks is against their personal freedoms, then wait until they find out how much personal freedom is lost when you don't have a house, or you die from a fire.

Free rights is about healthcare, education, the right to not be tortured. It's not the right to have a bloody BBQ.

Your neighbours have the right not to have their homes set on fire.

Very silly hill to die on - literally. People's homes are burning. If the alert changed the outcome for even one fire that's worth it.

Which is exactly why this thread is questioning people deciding that others can’t have a reusable bbq in their garden. The fire service tried to be specific and people have still made up their own rules- just like Covid

Police have had to tell people to stop ringing 999 to report a neighbours bbq, and to only ring if it's a genuine emergency.

Do you think that telling people not to start fires feels nice and signals actual virtue?

I don't, and can't see why people insist that it is for others but not them.

It reminds me of the thread where people said OP was bragging because she said her daughter liked fish. Clearly something they thought was worthy of bragging about but most people wouldn't!