As drought continues to bite despite the recent downpours, everybody’s favourite al fresco sausage-charring apparatus finds itself in the health and safety crosshairs
You mean the barbecue?
Exactly that, particularly the disposable sort you see piled high and sold cheap in supermarkets. Or used to, anyway. Earlier this month Tesco and Sainsbury’s joined Co-Op and Morrisons in removing them from sale on account of their being linked to a spate of wild fires across a parched and water-starved UK. Yes, even in Scotland. For those who think being forced to wait two hours for a blackened banger is a social and culinary ordeal too far, this is good news. For those who love to chop and marinade, and whose summer is not complete without a grilled halloumi, chargrilled vegetable and barbecued crevette platter, it is a calamity.
How bad is the problem?
Bad. A huge blaze last week at the Studland Heath nature reserve in Dorset was visible for miles around and is thought to have been caused by a disposable barbecue. Over 90 firefighters were required to bring it under control. Speaking to BBC Radio Four’s Today programme, Dorset and Wiltshire fire service area manager Jason Moncrieff said: “There can’t be many people in Britain who don’t know the advice at the moment is not to bring a barbecue, do not use a barbecue, especially disposable barbecues at these places such as Studland Heath. That’s our message, bring a picnic – don’t bring a barbecue.” Clearly, however, there are many people who either haven’t heard that advice or who are choosing to ignore it. Mr Moncrieff also revealed that his service has seen a whopping 492% increase in barbecue-related fires over the first 10 days of this month compared with the same period last year.
And in Scotland?
Not quite so bad but still an issue. Following a Freedom of Information request from the Scottish Liberal Democrats, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) revealed that they have attend 161 such fires since 2017 though over half the incidents recorded have occurred since 2020. “It is imperative that the public exercises caution as carelessness can result in injury or fire spread which can damage property and the surrounding environment,” said David Farries of the SFRS. Scottish Liberal Democrats MSP Liam McArthur echoed that. “It is imperative that the public exercises caution as carelessness can result in injury or fire spread which can damage property and the surrounding environment,” he said. “These figures show that on dozens of occasions these barbecues have got out of control”.
It’s a lot of trouble for banger ...
It is indeed. And trouble in every sense of the word – at the weekend Norfolk police arrested two men near King’s Lynn and charged then with arson after a disposable barbecue was thrown into woodland, starting a fire. Members of the public tried to put it out but it wasn’t extinguished until fire crews arrived.
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