Leaders in York and North Yorkshire are renewing calls for a ban on the sale of disposable barbecues, a year on from the Langdale wildfire that burned around 25 square kilometres of moorland.
Deputy Mayor for Policing, Fire and Crime Jo Coles pointed out this time last year, a fire was raging on the North Yorkshire moors, burning into precious peatbeds and destroying an area of moorland ten times the size of the Great Fire of London.
“It was, tragically, one of the largest wildfires ever in the UK,” she said. “This year, with wildfires once again threatening farmland, woods, parks in our area and elsewhere across the country, the Mayor David Skaith and I would like to once again thank all those who are responding to these incidents.
“North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service does an incredible job to keep our county safe, but for a rural region like ours we will always need the help and support of partners such as farmers, landowners, gamekeepers and businesses as well as the wider community.
“Given the cause of our fire last year was confirmed to almost certainly be an open cooking flame and the recent fire in Wykeham Forest, near Scarborough, was caused by a disposable barbecue, David Skaith and I have been calling for some time for the sale of disposable barbecues across our county to be banned. Some retailers have responded positively to this call and it’s incredibly welcome to hear that the Government is now considering forcing this change. But we cannot afford to wait for another major wildfire before action is taken. All retailers can show leadership now and remove these items from sale.
“Our beautiful countryside is incredibly precious. Witnessing the scale of the damage has been devastating and this fire highlighted the growing risks from hotter, drier conditions and the need for everyone to play their part. The regional ‘Don’t Spark Disaster’ campaign from North York Moors National Park, North Yorkshire Council, Forestry England, and the North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service demonstrates the impact fires have, but preventing wildfires is everyone’s responsibility. By following fire service guidance and taking care when visiting the countryside, we can minimise the risks and protect our wildlife and natural landscapes for future generations.”
Removed from stores
Several major retailers have already withdrawn disposable barbecues from sale, including Aldi, Lidl, Marks & Spencer and Waitrose, while Morrisons has removed them from stores within a mile of a National Park. Sainsbury’s follows British Retail Consortium guidance on the sale of disposable barbecues, and Tesco, which follows the same guidance, has also recently pulled them from sale in response to the hot, dry weather.
The renewed local call comes as Prime Minister Andy Burnham used an emergency Cobra meeting on the Government’s response to record temperatures, held yesterday, to press retailers nationally to stop selling disposable barbecues. Burnham said he was urging “all retailers big and small” to follow voluntary guidance suspending sales during extreme heat, and that in the “longer term” the Government would look at potentially banning the single-use grills during summer months.
After the meeting, Burnham said: “We would say to retailers do not put disposable barbecues on sale at this moment in time.”
Earlier, he told reporters single-use grills had been behind a number of recent blazes and people should not be using them “at this moment in time,” adding: “We do want people to take the greatest possible care when they are out in the countryside, both in terms of cigarettes, but also those temporary barbecues that we know are causing risk of fires.”
The Cobra meeting, the first on this year’s heatwaves to be chaired by Burnham personally rather than officials, followed nearly three-quarters of England and all of Wales being declared in drought, and a rare Met Office amber extreme heat warning, with temperatures forecast to reach as high as 38C.
Fire crews responded to 393 wildfires across England and Wales in July, the busiest month on record.
