Fire chiefs have warned the public not to dial 999 to report their neighbours for holding barbecues or lighting bonfires after a national alert was sent to millions of mobile phones.
Ministers were warned weeks before they issued the emergency alert about wildfires that extreme weather could overwhelm emergency services – after a previous heatwave triggered a 500 per cent surge in 999 calls and left fire and ambulance services stretched to their limits.
The alert on Friday evening was blamed for a surge in 999 calls after warning people that there was a “very high risk of wildfires nationally” and urging them to report signs of fire immediately.
Cornwall Council became the latest of several areas to warn people not to dial 999 over their neighbour’s barbecues.
Posting on its Facebook page on Monday it said: “Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service has received a high volume of 999 calls about BBQs, bonfires and campfires over the weekend. We understand people are concerned, but our Fire Control team needs to keep emergency lines clear for people who are in danger.”
Surrey Fire and Rescue Service urged the public not to call 999 to report barbecues, bonfires or garden fires unless there was an immediate emergency.
Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service issued a similar warning, saying 999 should be reserved for genuine emergencies or an immediate risk to life, property or the environment.
Gloucestershire Constabulary also reported a surge in calls about barbecues, which it redirected away from both 999 and 101, according to the Mail on Sunday.
The episode has raised questions over whether an alert intended to encourage people to report potentially dangerous fires may have added to pressure on emergency control rooms.
Warnings over pressure on emergency services
The Climate Change Committee (CCC), the Government’s independent climate advisers, warned in a report published in May that the UK is becoming increasingly exposed to more frequent and intense climate hazards, including heatwaves, drought and wildfires.
The committee highlighted the experience of the summer of 2022, when temperatures exceeded 40C for the first time and widespread wildfires placed severe pressure on emergency responders.
Across the hottest days in July that year, fire control rooms in England experienced a 500 per cent increase in 999 calls compared with the daily average.
Combined with the large number of wildfires that month, the surge in demand led 14 fire and rescue services to declare major incidents, according to the CCC.
The committee also highlighted concerns about what could happen during a more severe event. It said responders involved in a review of the 2022 heatwaves felt that, while the country had coped, a longer and more intense heatwave could have exceeded their ability to respond effectively.
National alert urged people to call 999
The warning has come under scrutiny after the Government issued the nationwide Emergency Alert on Friday evening as firefighters battled multiple wildfires across England and Wales.
Fire chiefs had requested an alert as crews dealt with tinder-dry conditions, including a major fire in Stourbridge in the West Midlands, which destroyed 19 homes and damaged a further 18.
The Government issued the alert at 7pm to compatible mobile phones across England and Wales, but it quickly created pressure of its own in some areas, with fire services warning that members of the public were using emergency lines to report non-emergency incidents.
There were also concerns about the alert’s potential impact on victims of domestic abuse.Women’s Aid warned that the loud emergency alert could expose hidden phones used by survivors to seek help or escape abusive situations.
Veronica Oakeshott of the charity said survivors “frequently turn to second phones” to access support or flee abuse, making it vital that such devices remain concealed.
The charity has called for advance notice to be given, where possible, before future alerts are issued.
‘An abuse of the system’
The decision to deploy the nationwide alert has also prompted criticism from Conservative politicians.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp accused ministers of “an abuse of the system for the purpose of political posturing”, suggesting that misuse of the system could undermine public confidence in future emergency warnings.
Ministers have defended the decision, saying the alert was justified by the scale of the wildfire threat and followed requests from fire and rescue services.
The Government has also deployed military support to assist firefighters and introduced a ban on disposable barbecues.
The controversy echoes an earlier official warning about the need to use the emergency-alert system sparingly.
A 2014 Cabinet Office report, drawn up under the coalition government following early trials of the technology, explicitly warned against using alerts for “lower level” incidents.
“It should not be used too frequently and only for the most serious of emergencies,” the report cautioned, warning that overuse could erode public confidence in the system. END
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