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

[PatioDwellers]

To think the bbq/fires in the heatwave responses have the air of Covid about them …

’my neighbour is having a bbq what should I do’, Ring 101, call the fire brigade, take photos, people will die!

tinfoil bbqs in the countryside, tossers and rightly banned.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

Look, this thread is so frustrating.
Gas bbq clearly not too bad.
Embers off a charcoal of any type if you live near me, a risk I wouldn’t take.
“Snitching” on neighbours - no, clearly not. Reporting a fire, clearly yes.

there was a party near me, pizza oven
i bet they were worried!
not enough to cancel though

A firework started the fires near us weeks ago - well about 20 miles away - our skies were full of smoke that you could see, smell and breathe. It was awful for about a week or more. I would still have BBQ then.

I mentioned my location as it was cooler so neighbours windows were shut not because it's any less dry.

My point is though that people can BBQ safely and shouldn't be judged by strangers who don't know their situation.People on here demonising everyone when circumstances are different everywhere

Or it's people who hate the smelt generally so using the dry weather as a reason people can't do what they enjoy.

I’ve said it before. It’s not aimed at people having a bbq in a garden , that’s being monitored.

Its stupid teenagers,and even stupider adults that buy disposable bbqs to have in woods , public areas and then leave them once they’ve finished.

The government hasn’t banned bbqs in private gardens.

Supermarkets still sell kindling and charcoal. Why would they still sell
it they would get prosecuted for it ? It’s the portable disposal ones you can’t buy at the moment.

I live very close to where a wildfire has been burning since the end of June (& another one, recently, just over the hill started by fireworks!!)It's mostly under control now...but the peat underneath the surface is still burning & there are flare ups occasionally. We have been breathing in the smoke for weeks & local roads have been closed for the huge response needed to work on putting it out. We have lost a huge amount of growth on the moorland & so many creatures have lost their homes...& lives!

There has been a few incidents where houses have burnt (not in my area) due to garden fires & the awful fire that spread in Stourbridge.

Imo think carefully before having a bbq in your garden...& take every precaution....but absolutely not anywhere else.

We completely demolished our brick bbq on Friday. Cant be to careful.

(It was actually a planned project, due to it be structually unsound. A new one will be built).

It's astonishing to me how many people have read this post as "the restrictions to bbqs are like Covid restrictions" rather than, as it actually is, "the reactions from people to the restrictions are similar to how people reacted to Covid restrictions". Very different things.

People here often don’t read the OP properly before rushing to type. It’s so frustrating!

No, instead restrictions should have been imposed weeks ago stopping the sale of disposable bbqs then.
we stayed in Suffolk near Minsmere back in June, now it’s severely damaged.

Suspect I’ve just proved your point..

People must be really dense to hear of dozens of wildfires and think “what about me?! I want a bbq! “

It's ridiculous that anyone has to be told not to light a fire outside at the minute. Surely no one is that thick that the would even think about starting a fire even if they think they can control it, just why take the risk? Even a proper BBQ you get sparks and splashes of red hot fat add a bit of wind and a clump of tinder dry grass and away you go.

I will continue to safely use my responsibly sited gas garden BBQ as before because it is not a high risk of causing fire.

I can understand and interpret the rules in place, so therefore I will not be undertaking any activities which cause a high risk of fire. I am able to risk assess the attended use of a gas BBQ on a stone patio, far away from anything flammable as the very low risk of causing fire that it is.

People bleating on about others reasonably having perfectly safe garden barbeques are just proving that they haven't read and understood the guidance given, or simply can't do a simple risk assessment.

And yes, it's reminiscent of the scaremongering and misinformation around Covid with people setting themselves up as moral judges of nonexistent rules and showing a lack of critical thinking, which is, of course OP's point.

Don't do anything that has even a remote risk of starting a fire.

what like plug your smart phone in? Drive your car? Use a washing machine?

Outside, like striking a naked flame even to light a nice safe gas BBQ. Why does anyone positively need something deliberately burning outside at the minute? However good they think their risk assessment is.

How will that help when your house goes up from a electrical fire?

Ho, ho, we're talking wild fires not accidental house fires which are always a possibility. The countryside is tinder dry have you noticed?

Stop being ridiculous, and making up random rules with no logical justification.

I didn't say it was a rule just bloody common sense. Seems to be a bit lacking on this topic.