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.

Everyone’s talking about it including my teens so it’s obviously worked

YABU - I was on a WhatsApp group today and people were trying to plan to take disposable BBQs to a park picnic tomorrow- so yes some people need the alert because they don’t watch the news and don’t seem to have grasped how serious this dry and hot weather is! It was 35 today and we’ve not had rain in weeks. The grass in the parks is dead and straw!

I told the group chat using disposable bbq was wrong is this weather anyway and then saw the ban as well… and told them it was banned anyway … should be banned full time in my opinion.

Agree 100%

My friend spotted a group releasing lit Chinese lanterns yesterday evening in the park. All the grass here is dead and the trees are dry as bones. People need to take far more care in a drought like this. An alert like that might have made those lantern-setting fools think twice.

If not, it would have given the legal system some ammo against them to possibly hold them accountable for damage caused by any fires they set.

We should also think very strongly about banning fireworks between the months of May-October. This isn't going to be the only dry summer. Things are going to get worse.

The difference is that individual stupidity here has an impact far beyond the individual. Our main road is absolutely shut and probably will be for two weeks minimum. This is a major trunk road.
Despite that I have seen news items about people sitting in the middle of timber dry heathland having a barbecue. And photos of idiots having bonfires or using those flame thrower things to burn weeds.

If individuals wish to kill themselves through stupidity but putting huge chunks of towns and countryside at risk is something else. It's astonishing people need to be told not to use BBQs/open fires /flame throwers etc right now but clearly people really are that selfish and stupid

Half the country seems to be on fire. Definitely need to remind people who appear to not be able to realise for themselves.

Waving from across the A31!

I mean the first alert was alarming but fair enough. I am however slightly irritated at the 5 alerts of this same thing I’ve got since 7:03pm - I’ve disabled ‘severe’ alerts on my phone in the hope it stops!

The alert just went off again on my daughter's phone but not mine.
Wonder if it will sound again during the night? Hope not.

Longer term maybe the government should put up the signs you see on regional roads in Australia, that say the current fire danger. They also operate district fire restrictions and fire bans, e.g, a total fire ban covers stuff such as angle grinders, gas barbecues and fire pits.

In most suburbs you can't burn garden or other rubbish at all, but then the collection of garden waste is frequent - you've got to make it easier for people to do the right thing.

I've only ever seen the disposable barbecues once, in a shop. To be fair, you still get numpties making fires at night near the beach.

Obviously it's different here, with a longer history of bushfires but the UK will need to do something.

Wow, you are amazingly ignorant if you haven’t worked out that fires cause death and destruction.

Ugh. Way to minimise an important issue. Whine about a ban on stupid disposable bbq trays and post/argue about stupid stupid gifs.
This is precisely why the hard of thinking need bloody warning.

That you have managed to get to adulthood without understanding how incredibly dangerous wildfires are, makes quite the statement about our education system.

God, wildfire awareness and safety in this country is a joke. Ironic when you see how OTT a lot of people (and regulations) are about household fire safety.

You've got one of the hottest, driest summers in history, unprecedented levels of wildfires, fuck all awareness of outdoor fire safety, you get a one-off use of the national alert system to make people aware of the extreme risk everywhere and how to avoid further fires and people childishly bleating on the internet that the government has "put their backs up" or is incompetent for treating a widespread national emergency like a widespread national emergency.

The commitment of some in this country to downplaying or minimising risk and sensible hazard preparation speaks to a country that has had it pretty easy when it comes to the elements and has had a government that has nannied and cosseted them away from facing harsh realities. The UK isn't special, it's just been lucky and that is changing.

They'd be the same people complaining that the government didn't do enough to prevent fires when a wildfire devastates their town.

I hope to fuck none of you has firefighters in your families.

It doesn't make the national alert system a good way to get this sort of information across to the tiny number of people for whom it's pertinent. The side affect of blasting everyone with an intrusive irrelevant message is that the whole system is degraded and becomes less useful when it is the only way to reach people in time. (And driving in poor visibility isn't just a risk to the individual).

People use disposable barbecues on beaches and in parks and don't always dispose of them safely. I've seen a few public bin fires caused by people throwing barbecues before they were fully out and cold and given that a few people have lost their houses today I don't think it's outrageous to put out an alert.

I genuinely think the fire services are probably stretched to the max rn - hence the alert.

I can't believe people are trying to find fault in a warning, it's so weird.

Turn it off if you want but this is the first one I've ever seen that wasn't a test and I'm not mad about it.

Behaviourally it's an excellent way to cut through the huge amount of noise and competition in the information economy to say to people "this one, if you're going to pay attention to any one message and do any one thing right now, this is the one."

As long as not overused (and to date there is no evidence that it is being overused or diluted) then it's a really good, evidence-based way to drive an urgent change in behaviour at the moment it's needed.

Its got people to pay attention. The number of people who this applies to is not tiny. If you really think that then you havent been paying attention.

Its also identifies all the people who criticise anything from the sidelines.

No words.....

Yeah it does, and it's not a tiny number of people.

Name a better way to get such a simple message out to just about the entire population.

The argument about the alert system being "degraded" is bullshit, by the way. Other than tests, how many have you had?

I suppose it’s pointless in the sense that sensible people already follow the guidance and people who are thick and/or selfish will just ignore it. That said, it did provide about 30 seconds of confusion / excitement.

Absolutely ridiculous- these alerts should be reserved for imminent threat to life: earthquakes, air raids, nuclear threats, hurricanes, bomb threats etc - NOT as a reminder not to have a BBQ!

the real danger is if the government keep on sending these out for everything all they’ll do is teach everyone to ignore it.

There is plenty of research to suggest that every alert increases the number of people who opt out and alerts that are sent to significant numbers of people for whom it isn't particularly relevant (as happened today) increase that number substantially. We'll get to see in a couple of days just how high the spike on searches for turning off the alerts is, which should give some indication of whether it will contribute to system fatigue.

Right now we're experiencing exceptionally hot and dry conditions. There are wild fires. It's a national and extreme situation. They obviously wouldn't use the alert to warn us of everyday dangers.

Do you have a link to any of that research?