AIBU to think the wildfire alert about barbecues was unnecessary?

[HollyhockDayssss]

AIBU to think the alert was unnecessary? I get wildfires are an issue but informing the public not to use bbqs isnt a life and death situation.

The New Forest has been on fire since Sunday. A 15 mile stretch of dual carriageway is closed from Southampton. Yesterday Forestry England found discarded disposable barbecues in fires around Lyndhurst, just a few miles from the main fire.

A fire on the Isle of Wight a fortnight ago was started by a disposable barbecue. That burnt for days and destroyed a huge area.

I think you're forgetting that a huge number of the public are idiots and think warnings & rules don't apply to them.

I’m not far from moorland & bone dry fields either.

This message was appreciated by me because you can’t educate pork and ignoramuses need to be reminded.

It does include fireworks and ‘any activity that could cause a fire’. Did you actually read it?

Gosh, you’re so right! I mean it’s not as if people holiday or move around the uk, especially in the summer! It’s lucky that no one here ever leaves their own little 2sq miles, isn’t it? Phew!

Oh, no, hold on a sec…

🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️

The barbecues will be back on sale after the heatwave has passed, withdrawing them from sale is a temporary measure. I plan to stock up for next year.

Agreed.

I thought the idea behind the system was to alert people if there was a serious threat to
life or limb in their locality.

The danger is if the system starts to be used for blanket announcements (no matter how serious the issue) people will start to cancel the warning without reading.

Human factors/accident investigation people can bore for hours with stories of accidents that were caused by people cancelling warnings without reading because they were getting too many low level alerts....and eventually they cancelled out the one warning that really needed attention.

There really needs to be a two tier system, one lower level for announcements such as tonight's, then a higher level one for "this means you, now"

That's certainly how it is done in some countries.

Have you seen the fires? All those people injured, all those homes destroyed and they believe one lot was down to a bbq

people are dropping vapes everywhere, some are still having bonfires locally we have had numerous field fires, and someone’s garden destroyed

hopefully those idiots will now realise they need to stop

I didn't get the alert on either 'phone so would have struggled to read it.

I don't for one moment think that the firework and BBQ lighters will take a blind bit of notice.

I didn't get the alert. OP was about BBQs.

Our fire service is stretched to the limit. We've had forest and town fires. The town fires have been started by bbqs, arson and carelessness. We are not the only area of the country thats in this position so yes yabu.

You would get it if you were in the locality, that is the whole point, they can be location based so you only get it if you are there. Maybe you didn't know this

This is just in the last 24 hours. But just because it doesn’t effect you don’t you worry your pretty little head dear.

Jumped as my phone suddenly got noisier! And was just watching the Joey where his house is on fire. Not wildfire, but otherwise matches your post perfectly.

I mean... vast parts of the country are basically tinderboxes at the moment. Sending out a message saying "don't be a twat" when people are still very evidently being twats seems more than reasonable.

Or would you rather someone accidentally starts a fire near you so you have to be evacuated, or lose your home, or worse?

It's just a fucking alert being sent out. Get some perspective.

Totally. I generally find now that no matter what happens people need to find a way to complain about it. If there was no alert people would be up in arms saying the government need to do something about the fires everywhere.

there was a loud noise for a few seconds. It’s not a big deal.

We were told about government alerts a while ago. If people don’t want them they should have turned them off.

The whole country is a tinder box. How does this not affect everyone?

I manage a woodland estate on the edge of a city. Fire brigade were in today to put out a fire started by some dick having a campfire. If it had got going it could have taken out a lot of houses on the boundary.

You would think that this sort of warning would be over the top but actually it isn't- people really are that stupid.

Edited to add: the fire was put out by a brigade from the next town over as all our local fire personnel were already attending incidents.

Just driven past two fire engines racing to a fire. YAB so U it’s not even funny.

Yabu. People are thick and still using BBQ's and dropping cigarette litter. I'm annoyed they didn't include cigarettes in the warning.

Fires aren’t a matter of life and death?? Really?? I’m sure the people who’ve lost loved ones, pets and their homes wouldn’t agree with you!!!

Yes, and iirc there were also other instances earlier this summer, before this current fire, where they had been found as the cause of smaller fires here too, not just this one. The affect to the wildlife and valuable ecosystem the NF provides is going to be immense and is incredibly sad. I think the people who are moaning about the alert and can’t see how serious the situation is are likely those who would buy and use disposable bbqs. They’re also very lucky to not live in an area affected. I’m not actually in the NF but not far, and it is somewhere I love, it is so varied and such an important area.

If one of your neighbour gets a bit careless with a barbecue, you will know all about imminent threat to life.

I was living in uni halls and this was around the 5th November. Some children were setting off fireworks on the road, and unlucky for us, it hit the trees opposite our road. Thankfully not a building, but if the fireworks had been angled differently, the fireworks would have hit us. Scary thought.

And if it's too dramatic for you then maybe sign up as a retained firefighter in your town and see how "unnecessary" the warning was.