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11
Apr
Warmer days prompt fears of barbecue fires on the Stray
Recent warm weather has prompted concerns over the impacts of disposable barbecues being lit on grassed areas of Harrogate.
As the days get warmer, the temptation to use a disposable barbecue with friends grows. But concerns over using them - especially on areas like the Stray – remain.
Judy d’Arcy Thompson, of the Stray Defence Association, which helps with marshalling the 200-acre green space, told the Stray Ferret disposable barbecues can be "very dangerous" in the wrong hands.
She said:
Clearly, it’s potentially hazardous with throwaway barbecues. In the hands of sensible people, they’re fine, but if not, they can be very dangerous. People leave them for children or small animals to step in and hurt themselves. It’s sad because it’s a few who spoil it for the many.
Nobody wants to be a killjoy – I have six children and we’ve had a lot of fun with barbecues over the years, but there’s a time and a place. The Stray is there for people to enjoy but please don’t leave things behind for other people to clean up.
The 1985 Harrogate Stray Act, which places stewardship of the Stray in the hands of North Yorkshire Council, forbids anyone from lighting anything on the Stray that could cause a fire.
It says: "No person shall not on the Stray light any fire, or place, or throw or drop or let fall a lighted match or any other thing so as to be likely to cause a fire; or release a sky lantern".
Peter Holmes, trustee and secretary of Friends of Valley Gardens, also belives barbecues pose a significant risk of fires:
Our opinion is that they’re dangerous, they damage the area around them and they’re a fire hazard. If people leave them unattended, the hot embers can spark fires.
The Japanese Gardens are like a tinder box in the summer when it’s dry and it would be a nightmare trying to get a fire engine in there if it did go up.
Fire service has to 'move resources around in a big puzzle'
When the Stray Ferret spoke to North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service last year, Chris Johnstone, station manager for the Harrogate district, said there had been an increasing number of “unnecessary” incidents across the district, such as disposable barbecues catching fire and bonfires getting out of control, during the sweltering spring months.
Most people have totally innocent intentions when using a disposable barbecue, Chris told us at the time, but he wanted the community to be aware of the impact small fires can have on resources.
He said:
If we have a small fire in the open and we have to deploy both our fire engines from Harrogate, we are then dependent on our control room to move resources from other areas to backfill whilst the fire engines are dealing with the small fire.
That’s where the unnecessary element comes in; we’re having to move resources around in a big puzzle – like chess pieces – to maintain fire cover around the county.
Advice on North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service's website urges people never to have barbecues on grass or moorland, and to only have them in authorised areas.
The advice also warns against throwing cigarette ends out of car windows and leaving glass or bottles exposed to the sun, as the light shining through them can spark fires.
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