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

She’s saying hysterical reactions like this are reminiscent of Covid

Yes which can happen in any country.

Yes. You are being a complete tosser. Someone had a bonfire in their garden and burnt down about 2 houses. Get a grip. Covid? What on earth are you talking about. Let’s hope your house doesn’t burn down because your neighbour had a coal BBQ and a light coal set your garden on fire

But also a lot of people who can't read and interpret information and can't risk assess and are making up their own, unneccessary rules and then judging other people against their own made up nonsense.

Garden BBQs, responsibly used are specifically allowed, because they don't present a high risk.

Being unable to go to work, send your children to school or visit friends and family count as major privations. Not cooking out of doors, not so much.

We have a lot of thickies in this country who don't like being told what to do and have no concept of the common good.

I do agree that many are started by human activity. However once started the climate and environmental conditions fuel them more so than in the UK.

Most are started by humans though.
When we were living in Spain we were evacuated due to a wildfire. It was eventually extinguished 2 houses down from ours. Over 50 houses were burned down.
It was believed to be started by someone flicking a cigarette butt out of their window.

Two words for you: dry lightning.

But they still have standing BBQs which is literally the only thing that people are saying they should be able to do

Most Australians are educated from childhood about fire safety in a way that we in the UK (I've lived half my life in each country) are not. Many Australians have seen the impact of fire in a way most Brits have not. It's a cultural difference.

It can feel very upsetting, when we're all being asked to make a small short-term sacrifice for the general good, to see some people acting in a way that clearly conveys the message, "Screw everybody else, I do what I want and no one can stop me. Bugger the consequences."

I'm not going to call the police on my neighbours for having a barbecue, but their choice will tell me something about who they are.

townies just dont get it! If you live in the countryside surrounded by farmers fields with expensive crops in them - their livelihoods basically not only are we all contending with blue tongue but the fear that whole fields will go up because some twat wants his sausages burnt not cooked in the oven is very very real. especially as the water courses and boreholes that would be used to put fires out are bone dry as well. the govt get a lot of stuff wrong but this is spot on imo. anyone having a bbq round here will most likely get an irate farmer putting it out with a bucket of water.

I'll continue to safely use my responsibly sited gas barbeque in my garden, as I'm legally entitled to do.

I wouldn't be using a disposable barbeque on dry grass, and I didn't need an alert to tell me that. It's clearly a stupid thing to do.

It's shocking how many people firstly can't read and digest information and also can't see the difference in risk between a safely sited attended garden barbeque and using a disposable barbeque on dry grass.

Not that I think a disposable BBQ in this heat is a good idea, but this kind of thing really shows up those people who get their kicks out of telling on others, like a small petulant child.

Having a BBQ is hardly an essential human right. People using coal-fired BBQs where sparks fly should have the common sense at the moment to wait until conditions change. A foul-mouthed rant is not necessary.

What does that mean? Plenty of Australian posters have said standing bbqs are excluded from their fire bans and they carry on using them

If you've ever lived in a country where bushfires are common & hugely destructive (eg. Australia, bits of Canada and the USA), you wouldn't question basic common sense.

No naked flames in a drought.

And then when there are less wildfires they’ll turn around and say “see, it was all a big hoax we didn’t need to ban them etc”

Agree !

Are you serious? The whole country is bone dry, it only takes a spark to ignite major fires that destroy and kill. Having a BBQ is hardly an essential human right. Read the room and maybe wait for conditions to improve. Have a picnic in the garden instead...

Not true, the situation is exactly the same

The difference is that wildfires in hot countries can start with the intensity of the sun. Wildfires in the UK start with thickos.

That's a very measured response 😂
Presumably you will be accosting anyone you see walking along with a cigarette then

The alert is necessary so that people actually realise how bloody serious this. Not everyone watches the news or goes on social media to understand what a mess it is out there. Hopefully the alert reaches the masses and makes them stop and think.

And yes, there are still bellends out there not taking it seriously and lighting bloody BBQ's and doing what the hell they please.