Fire services: ‘Save 999 calls for emergencies – not dobbing in next door’s BBQ’

Fire services have urged people not to save 999 calls for genuine emergencies following the Government’s wildfires alert.

Millions of phones blasted into life yesterday evening with the alarm warning people not to light anything which could spark a wildfire, including barbecues and garden incinerators.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has also urged people not to light fires in ‘tinderbox’ Britain after visiting Stourbridge in the West Midlands, where a wildfire spread across more than 500 acres and destroyed 19 homes earlier this week.

In the town, he announced a temporary ban on disposable barbecues, and he later urged home cooks and gardeners to ‘take extra care’ by not lighting any fires ‘in gardens, the countryside or other open spaces, including parks, moorland and wooded areas’.

Mr Burnham told members of the public to take the warning ‘seriously’ and said it was triggered at the request of firefighters.

Surrey Fire & Rescue Service was among those experiencing a ‘high volume’ of 999 calls.

In a statement on X, the service said: ‘Please only call 999 if there is an emergency or a fire producing significant smoke.

‘We understand residents may be concerned, but we are unable to respond to reports of neighbours having BBQs, bonfires or campfires in their gardens unless there is an emergency.’

The service said it supported the Government’s message and advised against bonfires, fireworks, campfires or disposable barbecues in the dry conditions.

Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service said it appreciated the public’s ‘vigilance’, but in a statement on Facebook asked people to call 999 only if there is ‘a genuine emergency or an immediate risk to life, property or the environment’.

That message was echoed by South Wales Fire and Rescue Service, who asked for 999 calls only to report ‘a new emergency’.

Four 14-year-old boys were bailed on Friday after being arrested on suspicion of arson after a fire was set on a mountain near Pleasant Heights in Porth, South Wales Police said.

Friday was provisionally a record-breaking 10th day in 2026 where temperatures have exceeded 35C or more, according to the Met Office.

Frittenden, near Ashford in Kent, was among the hottest places, where temperatures reached 35.3C.

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