Wildfires are really upsetting me

The wildlife - doesn’t bear thinking about.

No matter how stupid people are their stupidity never fails to amaze me. I just want to slap them! And disposable barbeques should be banned and made illegal. I think there is a movement towards doing that, but it's too late for this summer.

I think that we are all upset and some people are also frightened.
Those who live next door to a field, for example, when the combine turns up. Occasionally the machines can cause a fire but perhaps not as frequently as in days gone by.

Just spotted this. Tesco, M&S, Asda, Sainsbury and Ocado have stopped selling them which is a start.
Disposable barbeques not being sold

I can't believe it but some idiots had a firework display locally. If they are not careful, the "display" will cover miles and include houses. As we are aware, it only takes one spark.

The damage to crops is devastating and is bound to push up prices even more. Wildlife loses its natural habitat if not its life. The atmosphere gets polluted. The fire service are stretched enough without this added danger.

We moved house 6 years ago and now live quite close to a cycle trail which has natural hedging either side and open fields and woodlands beyond; it worries me whenever the wind is in a specific direction, one carelessly discarded cigarette, one shard of glass caught by the suns rays, one idiot with a BBQ or even worse someone deliberately starting a fire.

Here in South Hampshire we’ve had fires, fire brigade have just managed to stop a wild fire from spreading - literally just down the road from me. It’s so hot then when we come back from taking the dog for a walk we can feel the heat from our bricks as we approach our front door.
Also, I can’t open one of the kitchen windows - not sure if it’s melted shut and I’m reluctant to ‘give it some welly’ in case the glazing cracks! Will try when it’s cooler. It’s currently 29.4 in the coolest room with curtains closed and fan going!

I nipped outside to bring my washing in - no breeze and like a furnace! ??

Keep safe everyone x

My thermometer is showing 110F - in the shade (in France) - too hot to do anything although my DH and our guests are going out to look at some antique shops. Storms on their way, starting tomorrow thank goodness.

On a more serious note the wild fires here in parts of France have devastated thousands of acres of woodland. There's been a suggestion that one or two have been started by volunteer firemen who are pyromaniacs.

Chestnut

Just spotted this. Tesco, M&S, Asda, Sainsbury and Ocado have stopped selling them which is a start.
Disposable barbeques not being sold

Well done those stores! I’ve never understood why folk feel they must rush out and cook over a furnace on the hottest days of the year whether in the garden or on a picnic. It doesn’t make sense to me.

Forlornhope

Chestnut

Just spotted this. Tesco, M&S, Asda, Sainsbury and Ocado have stopped selling them which is a start.
Disposable barbeques not being sold

Well done those stores! I’ve never understood why folk feel they must rush out and cook over a furnace on the hottest days of the year whether in the garden or on a picnic. It doesn’t make sense to me.

Oh I don’t know, I love a good bbq! Last night, after a really hot day, it was wonderful sitting on my patio as the sun went down with a cooling breeze and a bbq hot dog would have gone down very well. I had to make do with some cheese and grapes with my gin and tonic.

Food should always be cooked on proper barbeques, not these ridiculous foil tins which are not only dangerous but environmentally very unfriendly. The people who use them leave them lying around to start fires in the woods, or bury them in the sand which can seriously burn a child's feet. ? (angry face with horns!)

I think the bbq thing is all about being outside, I can understand that, but forests, dunes and heathland are not compatible with cooking fires.
My friend here in France is a drone pilote and has shot some amazing videos of the forest on fire from above. The local effort on the ground is amazing- firefighters, farmers etc.
So sad to see landscapes and wildlife destroyed. Very worrying.

Me too- we are used to seeing fires on the other side of the world in warmer, dryer climates. And as upsetting as it always is, to see the wildlife suffer and people losing their homes- seeing it all on our doorstep is altogether really unsettling and upsetting.

And then you've got the rivers drying up. The Loire, The Danube and The Po. All huge waterways.It's almost unbelievable.

Scary now, both here and Europe, even scarier for the future unless everyone does their bit, but they won’t.

In days gone by after corn had been harvested and the straw baled up they used to plough round the perimeter of the field and then set fire to the stubble. The smoke was horrendous and even with the windows shut there were black soots everywhere in your house. Now I am not for one moment suggesting we go back to that but I am wondering if ploughing round the edges of fields might be a good idea?

25Avalon

In days gone by after corn had been harvested and the straw baled up they used to plough round the perimeter of the field and then set fire to the stubble. The smoke was horrendous and even with the windows shut there were black soots everywhere in your house. Now I am not for one moment suggesting we go back to that but I am wondering if ploughing round the edges of fields might be a good idea?

And also burning dead leaves in forests. I hate to defend him but I think Trump questioned why this was no longer done. Part of the ecology of forests consisted of the forest floor having occasional fires I believe.

Not everyone buying a portable barbeque is taking them into the great outdoors. If DH and I occasionally fancy a barbeque, we put a disposable barbeque in our normal barbeque and use that. It is just the right size for 2 or 3 people.

Nothing wasteful about it. We consume less charcoal than making a barbercue from scratch and the foil container and grill are recyclable. The disposable barbercue stays in the ain barbecue until burnto out and cold and I usually put some tin foil over it when we have finished. - The barbercue is on the patio, well away from anything flammable.

It is iritating when stupid people ruin things for people using items like this for there own convenience and in perfect safety. I have never in my life lit a barbercue other than in the safety of my garden.

Tragically it will add to pollution as those trees are so great at absorbing it, and will take decades and more to be replaced. and will also add to the food shortage and price crisis, at the worst possible time. Both for humans and cattle, and of course, wildlife.

M0nica There are always responsible people like yourself but it only takes a few idiots to cause massive problems. Apart from the fire risk there have been cases of disposable barbeques buried in the sand on beaches and then a child walks on it and ends up in hospital with serious burns to their feet. It's appalling. Imagine if that were your grandchild, you'd be heartbroken. If only people behaved themselves these barbeques could be sold to the public, but because of these ignorant fools they are not safe.

I feel as if I’m living in some sort of a nightmare. Currently at my daughters looking after her dog. So hot I need to go and have a cold shower so I can get to sleep. Driving home for an hour each day and the car is unbearably hot. Both houses are surrounded by fields: there was a fire in a nearby field a few days ago. A year or so ago we came close to flooding.This on top of a pandemic.

Chestnut

Food should always be cooked on proper barbeques, not these ridiculous foil tins which are not only dangerous but environmentally very unfriendly. The people who use them leave them lying around to start fires in the woods, or bury them in the sand which can seriously burn a child's feet. ? (angry face with horns!)

I use disposable bbqs as I live on my own and they are ideal to prepare food for one person. I don’t leave them in woods or bury them in sand, I use water to put them out when I have finished then once cool, I put them in the dustbin.

Don't you recycle the aluminium tray?

I fear for the wildlife the most.

We had a fire in the marshes near us in March. It was deliberately set alight by youths. The nests of all the birds on that part of the marsh were destroyed and I should imagine a lot of mammals were killed, too.