Fire services urge people not to call 999 to report people having BBQs after emergency alert text
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has urged members of the public not to light fires in “tinderbox” Britain.
Fire services have urged people not to call 999 to report people having barbecues unless there is an emergency following the Government’s alert about wildfires.
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The UK’s mobile phone alert system was used on Friday evening to warn people not to light anything which could spark a wildfire, including barbecues and garden incinerators.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has told members of the public to take the warning “seriously” and said it was triggered at the request of firefighters.
Surrey Fire & Rescue Service was among those experiencing a “high volume” of 999 calls.
In a statement on X, the service said: “Please only call 999 if there is an emergency or a fire producing significant smoke.
“We understand residents may be concerned, but we are unable to respond to reports of neighbours having BBQs, bonfires or campfires in their gardens unless there is an emergency.”
Read more: Burnham sends in the troops to fight wildfires as PM bans BBQs and commissions firefighting planes
Read more: Two arrested on suspicion of starting West Midlands wildfire as 19 hospitalised across region
The service said it supported the Government’s message and advised against bonfires, fireworks, campfires or disposable barbecues in the dry conditions.
Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service said it appreciated the public’s “vigilance”, but in a statement on Facebook asked people to call 999 only if there is “a genuine emergency or an immediate risk to life, property or the environment”.
That message was echoed by South Wales Fire and Rescue Service, who asked for 999 calls only to report “a new emergency”.
Four 14-year-old boys were bailed on Friday after being arrested on suspicion of arson after a fire was set on a mountain near Pleasant Heights in Porth, South Wales Police said.
Nineteen homes were destroyed on Thursday in a wildfire in the West Midlands, which spread across more than 500 acres in Stourbridge.
In a visit to Stourbridge on Friday, Mr Burnham announced a temporary ban on disposable barbecues, and he later urged home cooks and gardeners to “take extra care” by not lighting any fires “in gardens, the countryside or other open spaces, including parks, moorland and wooded areas”.
The Prime Minister also revealed he planned to commission firefighting planes, as used to douse flames in Europe and the US, to combat the spread of wildfires.
He said the country has to “face up” to the “changing climate” and needs to transition to “more clean energy”.
Mr Burnham said plans were being drawn up for emergency financial support for fire services battling the spread of wildfires.
He acknowledged that aerial firefighting capabilities would help and they would be commissioned nationally for use around the country.
He promised a summit with fire services as he acknowledged they had not been given the funding needed to cope with the impact of climate change – including the possibility of floods later in the year.
“I can’t say today that we’ve done enough to fully resource them to deal with these type of incidents, and I want our firefighters to know that I understand how it seems from their point of view, and I’m going to convene that summit to make sure we get in place the right support, including the aerial support, permanently if that is what they deem is needed,” he said.
“Obviously, there’s other adjustments that we need to make in relation to climate change.”
He said experts had warned the UK could face a wet autumn and winter because of the El Nino effect “so, after fire could come floods”.