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

Your location makes a lot of difference probably. Having a bbq down here would enrage a lot of very upset and worried farmers. Someone had fireworks recently - a local farmers wife was almost in tears.

my husband is a bbq pro and wouldn’t have one down here as he can’t guarantee the trajectory or production of embers. Honestly I’m so concerned.

This! My friend’s husband is a firefighter, all non essential leave like courses have been cancelled and those on leave who are not going away are asked to consider cancelling their leave. They are being drafted to other areas to help tackle the wild fires!

You're misinterpreting the information. Garden barbeques are not a high fire risk and not banned. Disposable BBQs are banned, as they are a high fire risk.

I didn't get the alert (and my husband's was in Welsh - we don't live in Wales or bordering it) but I believe the wording was not to light fires "or anything that could start a fire". A barbecue of any sort is a fire, with the capacity to start a much larger one.

If you mean "too little, too late", then yes it is like covid.

The wildfires round here have been terrifying - windows closed for last few days - swathes of land devastated.

Safe to say BBQ went without a hitch. No stray embers. No grass on fire and no need for a bucket of water.

We're northwest so probably cooler than most on here. We had the smoke from the Manchester fires weeks ago and they are still dampening them now 4 weeks later. So yes there's dry grass and brittle plants. But I'm not stupid or careless.

No burns allowed!
Haven't you seen the government warnings?

“Explaining this to a low ability child” 🤭

This is the funniest burn. 😂

I’m asking you personally … if everyone is a bellend for having a bbq in this weather why did you need to read the alert before deciding not to have one? Surely you already knew not to!!

Sensible question imo

Have you ever seen a wildfire outrunning the fastest?

https://www.gewocandle.com/news/industry-news/are-there-any-safety-risks-associated-with-birthday-candles-how.html

Sometimes they are started by at home bbqs in greece and the incorrect disposal of hot coals afterwards. We’ve just come back from Greece and our villa had very specific instructions on the use of the built in brick bbq with warnings about stray embers, disposal of coals etc. It really is down to the user. While it is possible to have a safe bbq, unfortunately not everyone is a diligent in not leaving it unattended etc

In 2020, someone on Mumsnet said that you mustn’t travel, because your car tyres churn up the virus and spread it around. Seriously, someone did say this!

Now for the mumsnet dilemma of the year: are we allowed to use a hose to put out a fire?

Given that last year my neighbours managed to set fire to vegetation about 4 feet above their gas barbecue under normal weather conditions, I have much less certainty than you about this situation.

I suppose I’d feel like that if I was making stuff up too.

What did they use to light them? A still-hot match, discarded on the ground, could easily cause a fire under current conditions. People just don’t think anything through properly.

Can’t really tell if people are genuinely ignorant enough to believe a gas BBQ at home poses a real risk or they just love an opportunity to snitch on their neighbours or virtue signal that they are a very good and responsible citizen for not having a BBQ. Either way seems people have collectively lost their mind during this weather and are unable to think rationally. So yeah, similar to Covid I suppose. My neighbours are having a BBQ at the moment, would not even occur to me to judge them, report them or be concerned that our street is about to go up in flames but seems like I’m in the minority here.

My gas BBQ doesn't spark. And it's on a stone patio, nowhere near anything flammable. Since it is neither a banned disposable BBQ, nor does it constitute a high fire risk, I will continue to safely and responsibly enjoy barbeques in my garden as long as the rain stays away.

There's more chance of you setting off a fire by charging your phone than there is of my attended, responsibly sited, safely used gas garden barbeque starting a fire.

Are your neighbours using a disposable BBQ in a back garden filled with dry old pine trees whose needles form a carpet on the ground?

If not, then your resentment is misplaced.

The grass is so dry at the moment that a spark from a fire pit or BBQ could tear across a lawn in a minute. It could be just a 1/10,000 chance, but the point is that the one that sparks could be lethal, and even if there's no danger to life it's still going to tie up fire service resources. Some people will ignore it but if you can reduce the number of potentials then it's worth everyone being "inconvenienced" for a few weeks.

Yes to this.

Also, the losing of all sense of perspective in hot weather.

But obviously will be more common in a country that has high temperatures for much of the year. I feel like I’m explaining this to a low ability child.

I was at a child's 3rd birthday party today at forest school. People were questioning whether they should have lit the candles on the birthday cake 🤣

You're just proving her point lol

How do you know this? My neighbours had a barbecue today and it didn’t make me anxious at all.

Because this is exactly what people said about covid 'nobody needs to leave the house'

Grow upppp