‘Tinderbox’ Britain bans disposable barbecues, sends nationwide fire alerts as Europe battles blazes

LONDON — The U.K. imposed a temporary ban on the sale of disposable barbecues and sent a nationwide alert warning of a “very high risk of wildfires” as European countries battle to keep blazes under control.

Authorities are bracing for the prospect of fires breaking out in the days ahead, with drought conditions across much of Britain and a prolonged heat wave this week bringing temperatures in excess of 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit).

“Britain is a tinderbox right now,” Prime Minister Andy Burnham warned on Friday as he visited the scene of a fire in Stourbridge, in the West Midlands region, that destroyed 19 homes. “I’ve never seen scenes like this in Britain,” he added.

Wildfires are not typically a major threat in Britain, usually known for a temperate maritime climate and frequent wet weather, even in the summertime. The U.K. does not have any firefighting planes, a common sight in many other countries, but Burnham said he would seek to commission some in an effort to “face up” to the “changing climate.”

“Farmers are watching crops fail and firefighters have faced hundreds of wildfires in a matter of weeks,” he added in a video shared on X. “This is what climate change looks like here and now.”

Many of England’s rolling green fields are currently a sea of brown, dried-out grass, with firefighters and officials fearing any spark could lead to catastrophe.

One Stourbridge resident said that trees were “exploding” in the conditions as the fire spread.

“We just grabbed everything and left,” Paul Nash, whose garden was damaged, told Reuters.

Burnham also announced a temporary ban on the sale of popular disposable barbecues.

“Retailers have been informed that disposable barbecues must be removed from sale immediately. The temporary measure will remain under review but will stay in place while the heightened wildfire risk continues,” the U.K. government said in a statement.

Emergency alerts were sent to phones across England and Wales nationwide on Friday, warning: “Residents, landowners and visitors should not undertake any activity that could start a fire, including disposable barbeques, firepits, garden incinerators or fireworks.

“Even a small flame can rapidly develop into a major wildfire placing lives, homes, businesses and emergency responders at risk,” the alert continued.

Phil Garrigan, chair of the National Fire Chiefs Council, said the number of wildfires seen this year had already surpassed all-time records.

“We’re only in the middle of August, and the wildfire season seems to extend way into November at this moment in time. So, we’re ⁠anticipating this being not just a record-breaking year, but a considerable increase on the number of wildfires previously experienced,” he told Reuters.

“We’ve declared 11 major incidents over the course of ⁠the last 24 hours,” Garrigan added.

“The demands and the requests for support have probably outstripped the capability of the U.K. fire and rescue service ... so we’ve struggled to ‌give fire and rescue services exactly ​what they want.”

Fires spread across Europe

Many European countries are battling fires after a long stretch of hot and dry conditions. A raging wildfire in the province of Huelva, southern Spain, triggered an operation to evacuate around ​700 people on Thursday.

More than 2,000 people evacuated ​the village of Gey in western Germany on Friday after a ‌wildfire near the Belgian border, while France evacuated 525 people from the village of Luglon in its southwestern Landes region.

Meanwhile, Croatia and Greece both evacuated tourists from resorts as fires spread. Flames enveloped settlements and trees around Omis, a scenic town on Croatia’s prized Dalmatian coast surrounded by trees and ⁠rocky hills, officials said, injuring 40 and forcing 1,200 to ​evacuate.

More than 300 people were evacuated by boat from Siviri in northern Greece, south of the country’s second city, Thessaloniki.

People wearing face masks, some clutching children or pets, boarded dinghies and boats in the seaside town as a wildfire ate through the nearby forest and columns of smoke turned the cloudless sky a dark gray.