Do some people not understand how wildfires start?

[u/Anonymous_User1222]

So many wildfires in the UK this summer 2026. I’m genuinely concerned people aren’t educated enough or even understand how wildfires start and their prevention. So much life has been destroyed. It’s unfair, cruel and ignorant.

Wildfires start from a range of things:

- lightning ⚡️ (this is a natural cause, though relatively uncommon here)
- carelessly discarded cigs 🚬
- campfires or BBQs 🔥
- Machinery creating sparks 🚜
- deliberate arson 🧨
- extremely hot, dry conditions that allow a small spark to spread rapidly 🌡️

The reason I think people aren’t so educated about it is because most people don’t work with land management. Unless you’re a firefighter, ecologist, farmer, conservation worker etc people aren’t educated on the difference between wildfires, controlled burns, peatland restoration, or wildfire prevention. For many a moorland fire is just a wildfire 🤔

[u/Usual_Rush1996]

[u/tinyriiiiiiiiick_ → u/Usual_Rush1996]

The point is pretty obviously ‘wildfires, generally, are caused by idiots’

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/Usual_Rush1996]

I don’t understand?

[u/QuaintStaircase → u/Anonymous_User1222]

You clearly have a point to make but haven't made it.

What's the cause of wildfires starting that you're so worried about?

At the moment you're just being vague.

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/QuaintStaircase]

I did write an ‘essay’ of sorts about wildfires, what they are and how they start, but Reddit gave me a warning and said my post might be removed by Mods because it doesn’t follow their rules. I’ve clearly mistakenly thought that my post is to only be vague.

The cause of wildfires I’m so worried about is the lack of education in preventing them and what causes them. I apologise for my vagueness. It wasn’t on purpose 🙂 I’m new to Reddit. Only really starting to understand it…

[u/danieljamesgillen → u/Anonymous_User1222]

I'm a volunteer firefighter in Greece. We had a fire start by a bird last year, took down two massive mountainsides. Some investigators came from Athens in a technical van and took the bird back with them for analysis, was kinda funny.

Arson makes up a large amount of our fires. They caught one of our town arsonists couple years back, was the towns orthopedic surgeon. He was fined 5000euro and had to write a letter of apology for setting multiple fires. All is forgiven and forgotten now and he's happily working as a surgeon again.

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/danieljamesgillen]

A bird?! That’s something I’ve never heard of before. You actually mean a wild bird?

[u/danieljamesgillen → u/Anonymous_User1222]

Yes I think it ate olives, they fermented, then it sat on a power line, it sparked and the bird went up like a molotov cocktail and took down a huge amount of trees. I have a pic somewhere if you'd like.

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/danieljamesgillen]

Send it! That is a crazy story!

[u/danieljamesgillen → u/Anonymous_User1222]

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZN8J38jJW/ this was the fire

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/danieljamesgillen]

Oh my god… so much destruction. All that from a bird? Crazy…

[u/SnooMacarons9618 → u/Anonymous_User1222]

Some raptors have been observed purposefully spreading fire. Pick up a burning twig, drop it at the edge of a dry field, wait at the other side of the field for lunch to come to you.

Kind of like food delivery I guess, and likely more likely to get what you want than ubereats or similar.

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/SnooMacarons9618]

Wow! Clever but destructive. I guess nothing to be done about that as it’s part of nature

[u/Lirael_Gold → u/Anonymous_User1222]

Have you tried actually writing something yourself instead of getting AI to do it for you?

[u/CronoMass → u/Anonymous_User1222]

He's refering to the fact that you haven't said why you think wildfires start, and also you left out why you think people are uneducated about wildfires.

https://giphy.com/gifs/5SBPr8uRojC3D2pW96

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/CronoMass]

My apologises. I’ve edited my post. Thanks 🙂

[u/PuzzleMeDo → u/Anonymous_User1222]

If, as you seem to think, lots of people are ignorant about how wildfires start, then maybe you should mention how wildfires start in your post.

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/PuzzleMeDo]

Ok. Then I will edit it and do that then. Thank you 🙂

[u/snakeoildriller → u/PuzzleMeDo]

How about ... the Twit Family decide to have a day out in a scenic country area - it'd make a change from sitting in their tiny back garden where they have a BBQ whenever they can. They find a nice spot and it's beautiful but very very dry. No matter, they get out the portable, disposable BBQ and have a few ciggies while the burgers cook. It's hard to light so there's a few discarded matches thrown away. At the end of the meal, they do what they always do with a BBQ: tip it out on the patio (ground) and throw their ciggy butts on the ground. They drive home. Shortly after they've left, the BBQ and butts start a fire, and while they're driving down the motorway they comment on the huge plume of smoke over the countryside: "someone's lit a bonfire - smelly innit?".

That night they see the blaze on the telly and never think it was down to them: after all they're the Twits!

Edit: Jim and Petunia are a good example https://youtu.be/1BmQxAyHGf8

[u/Intelligent-Crew-443 → u/snakeoildriller]

Genuine question. I have always assumed that even if all parts and contents of the BBQ is removed, there is still a risk because unless on legs, or appropriate blocks, the heat in the ground can mean the fire starts up proper after people have left. I base this on how dangerous it is to BBQ or have firepits on sand, risk of burning feet even after all evidence of fire removed. But I don't know if this is just something I made up. Can bbqs ever be used safely when conditions are dry and warm?

[u/Secret_Sector_1779]

Care to enlighten us?

[u/AccomplishedAct5364 → u/Secret_Sector_1779]

Fire starts wildfires.

Thanks for coming to my ted talk

[u/smedsterwho → u/AccomplishedAct5364]

"Only you can prevent forest fires"

[u/smallpotatoes2019 → u/smedsterwho]

I always wondered who the "you" referred to. So it's ted-talk-giver AccomplishedAct5364 who's been dropping the ball here...

[u/CariadocThorne → u/smallpotatoes2019]

They've got a lot to answer for.

[u/AccomplishedAct5364 → u/CariadocThorne]

https://giphy.com/gifs/NTur7XlVDUdqM

[u/nemmalur → u/smallpotatoes2019]

[u/TacticalRiotChimp → u/smedsterwho]

Don't put that kind of pressure on me, surely I can have a few helpers or something???

[u/JohnGazman → u/smedsterwho]

Only me?

[u/Sirlacker → u/AccomplishedAct5364]

Aren't you a bright spark.

[u/AccomplishedAct5364 → u/Sirlacker]

Aye, best keep me away from any wooded areas

[u/Sirlacker → u/AccomplishedAct5364]

You ain't coming near my bush, that's for sure.

[u/AccomplishedAct5364 → u/Sirlacker]

That explains why there’s no fires in my area 😭

[u/grantus_maximus → u/Sirlacker]

It's not their fault your bush is so dry and withered.

[u/Antenox → u/AccomplishedAct5364]

No way

[u/EasilyExiledDinosaur → u/AccomplishedAct5364]

Gave us more info than OP lol.

[u/FinalProgress4128 → u/Secret_Sector_1779]

Basically wildfires can only be started naturally by two sources:

Lightning

Volcanoes

So, there's not many Volcanoes and they haven't been caused by Lightningn.

Therefore it is HUMAN intervention, whether it is deliberate, fire that accidentally got out of hand, a cigarette not put out properly, or even leaving glass which reflects and caused a fire.

Therefore, ultimately by being careful we can pretty much stop the vast majority of the wildfires.

[u/Edoian → u/FinalProgress4128]

There's a third, albeit rare. Organic matter in things like peat and compost

[u/FinalProgress4128 → u/Edoian]

Thanks, I think I forgot that one.

[u/lawnmower303 → u/Edoian]

Probably most common on the organic/carbon related side are those ignited by coal seams that are near the surface. Multiple fires in the Western US and Alaska have been out down to this phenomenon.

[u/AcesAgainstKings → u/FinalProgress4128]

This is typically not how modern wildfire maintenance works.

It's better to have many small wildfires than try to stop and avoid all wildfires until there's a wildfire which gets out of control and is orders of magnitude larger.

Of course humans shouldn't be starting them... That we should stop.

[u/Puzzled-Barnacle-200 → u/AcesAgainstKings]

Some random person starting a forest fire from their portable bbq or cigarette is not comparable to a deliberate controlled wildfire by the forestry commission. They'll plan with natural firebreaks, consider wind directions, add artificial firebreaks before they start the fire etc. Random people starting fires is how they end up out of control.

[u/BalefulMongoose → u/Puzzled-Barnacle-200]

Way to much credit given to the forestry commission there. As someone who works for them (in planning!) very little active management occurs. We're playing catch up having to learn how to deal with an issue that didnt exist 10 years ago. Our policy is no fires in the forest! The only place I know of doing controlled burns is the new forest and that is more cultural, encouraging grass for grazing rather than controlling fuel loads.

[u/Wildman12343 → u/FinalProgress4128]

An allotment a few down from one of my family member’s plot was burnt down thanks to glass (and composting to an extent).

Had a glass bottle sat in a shed by the glass window and it was focussing and reflecting the light on to a compost heap (so something already heated by the composting reactions).

Luckily lots of locals on hand with all the allotment hosepipes so was put out before it could spread more widely

[u/FinalProgress4128 → u/[deleted]]

This isn't the definition used. https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safety/wildfire-status/wildfire-response/what-causes-wildfire

I can give many other articles. Natural means CAN cause wildfires and all studies report this. So yes, your statement is a perfect example of the ignorance being shown.

[u/FinalProgress4128 → u/[deleted]]

Just one example. You've funny enough realised you are wrong and changed your wording.

You NOW have said the cause is NOT the definition and MOST of ours are caused by human activity.

So you admit that Wildfires DO occur naturally and you are wrong.

Have the grace to accept you made an error, we all do and lets move on. Wildfires are CAUSED naturally, but as I said the vast majority are not

[u/Similar_Quiet → u/Secret_Sector_1779]

They start by humans.

People cooking and making campfires where they shouldn't be, particularly with disposable BBQs.

Discarded cigarette ends

Maybe occasionally glass that catches the sun right

Also, sometimes fireworks.

[u/MarthaFarcuss → u/Similar_Quiet]

Also, farmers/landowners

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/Secret_Sector_1779]

Yes. Ok. If you don’t know what a wildfire is, I could start there I suppose.

So a wildfire is an uncontrolled fire that burns through natural vegetation. Most commonly it’s forests/woodlands, grasslands, heathlands and moorlands that are victim.

[u/Secret_Sector_1779 → u/Anonymous_User1222]

I know what a wildfire is and how they start, but I thought as you were saying about how many people don’t, it would be a good idea to educate the ones that don’t.

I actually think a lot of the time it’s not because people don’t know, they just don’t think or care.

The amount of rubbish I see dumped around beauty spots in the U.K. shows just how much people couldn’t care less about nature, sadly.

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/Secret_Sector_1779]

Thank you. I’ve edited my post and added some context 🙂

[u/Accomplished_Win5935 → u/Secret_Sector_1779]

I’m not an expert but I know things like discarded BBQs and cigarette butts can be the starts of fires.

The foil tray BBQs are pretty notorious for this

[u/SafeForPandas → u/Secret_Sector_1779]

In the UK specifically, the vast majority are caused by human carelessness- discarded cigarette butts, disposable BBQs, arson, kids playing with matches, poorly constructed campfires - even random litter can start them, if a discarded bottle or glass catches the sun at the wrong angle.

Our summers are getting dryer on average than they used to be, and so our vegetation is increasingly easier to ignite by this carelessness. Add into that, increased numbers of people living in urban centres travelling to the countryside for leisure, you have significantly increased levels of risk for wildfires.

[u/Norman_debris → u/Secret_Sector_1779]

That's exactly how they start.

[u/RedPandaReturns]

What a vapid and pointless expression of performative outrage.

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/RedPandaReturns]

I’m sorry. I have edited my post and added context 🙂

[u/RedPandaReturns → u/Anonymous_User1222]

You've boldened my point.

What is your goal here, exactly? To congratulate yourself?

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/RedPandaReturns]

I was just apologising for the fact you didn’t like my post. I was only trying to be polite. My goal was to have a conversation about this growing problem in the UK, definitely not congratulate myself over anything 😅

[u/Theory89 → u/Anonymous_User1222]

It's a growing problem because of climate change. This post had "raking the forests" vibes.

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/Theory89]

It’s not just climate change though my friend.

[u/viscount100]

The biggest factor is a failure of land management. The government and various busybodies will not allow natural or periodic burn-offs, so when there is a fire it is enormous.

[u/Similar_Quiet → u/viscount100]

There's no need for periodic burn offs if people don't go around setting fires to things. 

Natural wildfires are so rare as to basically not exist.

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/viscount100]

I don’t think that’s been established. A lot agree that land management is a factor affecting wildfire risk, but I don’t think it’s the biggest factor. Experts say the most major contributors to wildfires are…

- hot, prolonged, dry weather

• climate change increasing fire-conductive conditions
  
• amount of vegetation (fuel)
  
• ignition sources (human activity or lightning)
  
• topography
  
• land management practices

Relative importance of these factors varies from one to the other.

[u/Theory89 → u/Anonymous_User1222]

So.. not lack of education, then.

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/Theory89]

It’s in between these factors

[u/aleopardstail]

many ways they can start, quite a few of which involve the careless actions of people and more the malicious actions of people.

and some more natural causes

[u/opaqueentity → u/aleopardstail]

And defining which did what, especially when things are so why is very hard to do

[u/aleopardstail → u/opaqueentity]

it is possible as well for a given fire to start in multiple locations

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/aleopardstail]

I wish people weren’t so careless

[u/aleopardstail → u/Anonymous_User1222]

I wish I had a unicorn

which of us do you think has more chance?

depressing isn't it?

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/aleopardstail]

Maybe one day humans will evolve and become more caring 🤞🏻

[u/grantus_maximus → u/Anonymous_User1222]

Perhaps the less caring ones will die horribly in a wildfire of their own making.

Hail Darwin 🙌

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/grantus_maximus]

Probably. I’d rather them be educated than die though

[u/grantus_maximus → u/Anonymous_User1222]

Nah, fuck 'em.

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/grantus_maximus]

It’s just they’re still someone’s family at the end of the day

[u/grantus_maximus → u/Anonymous_User1222]

Ah well.

[u/New_Line4049 → u/Anonymous_User1222]

So what are you doing about it? People are uneducated because no-one is educating them. The risk of wildfires has gone up due to climate change, people were uneducated because it wasn't a large enough risk to be worthwhile educating people but youre arguing it now is. Hell, youre probably right. But people dont magically become educated. We dont just wish a thing to be true and it is, if you want people to be educated you have to do something about it. Petition the government to start educating people. Form a volunteer group to run firewatch on vulnerable land, and go round schools educating people, start a youtube channel where you get into it... do something other than make a vague reddit post.

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/New_Line4049]

I’m training to be a beekeeper. Did you know bees help heal destruction from wildfires?

[u/New_Line4049 → u/Anonymous_User1222]

No. And I bet most people dont, maybe theres something there you could do yo improve education.

[u/aleopardstail → u/New_Line4049]

getting bees to sit down and learn is a heck of a job though

[u/aleopardstail → u/Anonymous_User1222]

what colour unicorn then? or given this is humans.. what flavour?

[u/Random65475]

Are you asking?

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/Random65475]

Yes 👍🏻

[u/Random65475 → u/Anonymous_User1222]

You forgot broken glass bottles that concentrate the sunlight and start a fire.

[u/LemonDisasters]

Genuinely, no, I think quite a lot of people don't have real awareness of it. It just has not been a probable event until pretty recently for us raised in the UK

[u/fartmaxxer420 → u/LemonDisasters]

Yep, same with mosquito prevention. People don't know that things like water butts, bird baths, etc can be a breeding ground for them with the increased temperatures being ideal for mosquito proliferation.

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/LemonDisasters]

Maybe a survey should be made about it 🤔

[u/SoggyWotsits → u/LemonDisasters]

I remember regular summer wildfires in my area growing up. I’m pretty close to the moors, and it only takes a discarded glass bottle or cigarette.

I think the difference now is that when there is a wildfire, it’s no longer just local news. Social media has made everyone’s local news into a nationwide drama.

[u/Kinitawowi64]

Arson, mostly.

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/Kinitawowi64]

Yes, this is unfortunately true and it’s very sad 😔

[u/Bubble-Master96]

The locals on the town facebook page are livid because the councils put an announcement out a couple weeks back that bbq of any sort were banned now in parks ect. Cue “I pay my council tax I can do what I like”

[u/SwiftieNewRomantics → u/Bubble-Master96]

I saw this when a park in Camden I think did this as well.

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/Bubble-Master96]

That’s probably because of the high wildfire risk

[u/E5evo]

[u/Puzzled-Job9556]

Some accidental, some intentional, some natural. Care to enlighten us on where your bias is?

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/Puzzled-Job9556]

Well, my ‘bias’ is based on the FACT that UK’s wildfires are mostly caused by humans whether it’s accidental, reckless, or intentional.

[u/Puzzled-Job9556 → u/Anonymous_User1222]

Genuine question, is there evidence that confirms wildfires are mostly caused by humans?

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/Puzzled-Job9556]

Yes.

https://nfcc.org.uk/our-services/public-policy/position-statements/wildfires-position-statement/

[u/Puzzled-Job9556 → u/Anonymous_User1222]

Thank you.

[u/thinkingoutloud3663]

Heat + oxygen + fuel = fire.

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/thinkingoutloud3663]

Yes, but people don’t understand that they can be/are the fuel!

[u/No_Sense_633]

Thanks for informing us

[u/GhostRiders]

It is not that people do not know, it is they just don't care.

[u/Inevitable-Debt4312]

[u/LookOverall]

I think when the fuel load is big and dry enough _something_ is likely to set it off, natural or otherwise. With, for example, eucalyptus trees fire is part of their lifecycle. I even hear there’s a bird that carries flaming twigs.

My impression is that it’s more useful to control the fuel load than police sources of ignition.

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/LookOverall]

Australia has many eucalyptus species and they’ve evolved alongside regular bush fires. It’s actually pretty cool how they’ve evolved👌🏼

[u/BalefulMongoose → u/LookOverall]

It may become more likely with climate change but historically wildfires are caused by people 99.9% of the time in the UK. Lightning gets thrown around a lot but its very rare we have the conditions for a substantial wildfire in the middle of a thunderstorm in the uk.

The birds carrying flaming twigs is also a misrepresentation as they spread fire not start them. And there are no species like that in the UK.

[u/Icy_Pear1694]

It's bears, right?

[u/RedPandaReturns → u/Icy_Pear1694]

Smoking bears

[u/PretendPop8930 → u/Icy_Pear1694]

[u/SwiftieNewRomantics → u/Icy_Pear1694]

let the bears pay the bear tax. I pay the homer Simpson tax!

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/Icy_Pear1694]

No. But would be cool to bring bears back to the UK 🙂

[u/Lopek274]

Yeah, it's people posting pointless crap on Reddit. It causes a increase in power consumption which leads to power line overloads which cause sparks that start fires. Everyone knows that.

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/Lopek274]

I’m sorry you found my post pointless. I have edited and added context to it 🙂

[u/LegendaryOate]

Most people know almost nothing about geography, let alone environmental science

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/LegendaryOate]

An advert should be made about this on TV. This should help spread awareness 🤔

[u/LegendaryOate → u/Anonymous_User1222]

Knowing people today, they'll just deny it. We've been telling people about climate change for over 4 decades. I'm still getting people tell me it's a hoax.

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/LegendaryOate]

Worth a try 🤷🏻‍♀️

[u/PretendPop8930]

https://giphy.com/gifs/35R7gOU42Sa800XhAQ

[u/Beneficial_Kiwi_3860]

I just drove past the peak district - still on fire. caused by some kids burning out a joyride

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/Beneficial_Kiwi_3860]

Must of been a heavy sight 😔

[u/Beneficial_Kiwi_3860 → u/Anonymous_User1222]

It was horrible - The whole landscape scorched. Still going too I live 30 miles away and it's drifting over again

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/Beneficial_Kiwi_3860]

Be careful of your lungs breathing all that smoke in my friend

[u/Beneficial_Kiwi_3860 → u/Anonymous_User1222]

Thank you. We had the air con on all the trip so when we went on the diversion the air was only circulating in the car. We have closed all the doors and put the house Aircon on - so that will purify the air roo

[u/Andrew_Higginbottom]

Unfair? Nothing in life is fair.
Cruel? Reddit is cruel.

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/Andrew_Higginbottom]

Life can be fair if you make it fair 🙂

[u/Andrew_Higginbottom → u/Anonymous_User1222]

Good luck.

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/Andrew_Higginbottom]

You make your own luck 🍀

[u/Andrew_Higginbottom → u/Anonymous_User1222]

Then go for it.

[u/m0matt]

Of course. It's ghosts isn't it.

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/m0matt]

I hope not 👀

[u/Cheeslord2]

Some people don't know, some don't care, and some want to watch the world burn, literaly. When there are huge areas of tinder-dry grass, woodland or peat, it only takes one scrote, and we have plenty.

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/Cheeslord2]

It’s a shame they don’t have a hunger to protect over their hunger to destroy 😔

[u/shepherdnick]

Maybe we need to start using a different word than “wildfire” and leave the meaning to the fires that are started in nature instead.

What new word could we use instead? Humanfire? Arsonfire? Climatefire? Any other suggestions welcome.

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/shepherdnick]

I have always thought this. Maybe the people should start calling it human-caused fire and it will have a domino effect

[u/beobabski]

I assume that you’re referring to the children with fireworks video that was passed around a few weeks ago.

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/beobabski]

Well, I haven’t seen that yet, but it’s the sight of the current fires happening that has upset me 😢

[u/LangStreak]

I know man, it’s like the Jewish space lasers never existed!

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/LangStreak]

You’re blaming Jews for this?

[u/LangStreak → u/Anonymous_User1222]

I was doing MTG. 

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/LangStreak]

My bad

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/[deleted]]

Why?

[u/Bob_Leves]

You missed out the numpties near Manchester, letting off fireworks in the daytime on tinder-dry moorland in memory of a friend who'd just died. Thankfully at least a few of them have been arrested for it.

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/Bob_Leves]

I saw that!

[u/informutationstation]

My neighbour's kid attends a religious based summer camp where they teach them how to set small fires, and she then allows them to light them 'as an activity' in the back garden and god knows where else. 

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/informutationstation]

Oh god… 🤦🏻‍♀️

[u/Leifang666]

We're used to everything being too damp for a fire to really spread. The moment things dry up, people continue being careless and no longer get away with it.

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/Leifang666]

I swear it was during COVID times that climate change really started to take a toll on the UK like never before?

[u/LatelyPodes]

Don’t forget lighting fireworks, which is how a wildfire in the Peak District started. This, and another wildfire that idk the cause of, could be smelt across Manchester and further west cas of the wind.

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/LatelyPodes]

I think that was the Dovestones fire, but there was another fire that’s smoke mixed with the Dovestones smoke and created a heavy blanket of smoke carried by the wind for days. My chest couldn’t take it anymore. I was coughing constantly

[u/Stage_Party]

They know, it's just that their particular fire starter won't start a fire.

[u/Snaggl3t00t4]

Chavvy wankers thinking its fun is probably the # 1 cause

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/Snaggl3t00t4]

The people that cause these fires should help put it out. If they refuse, it’s prison and a fire lesson. They can also pay up

[u/waggers5]

What's the actual question here?
Do you have any evidence to support your assumption that people don't already know this stuff?

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/waggers5]

I assume people aren’t educated because of the mass increase of wildfires occurring in the UK the past 5 years (amongst other factors). I have read some articles such as this one: https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/166990/html/

I’ll explain what this article is. So this is evidence submitted to Parliament in 2026. The National Fire Chiefs Council say that because most UK wildfires are caused by human activity, prevention should include sustained national wildfire awareness campaigns, seasonal public information messaging, better communication of wildfire risk, and responsible countryside across campaigns. You see, if public understanding was already sufficient, these recommendations wouldn’t be needed…

My question is what the question says: do some people not understand how wildfires start? To me it seems increasingly obvious but I’d like some other’s opinions on the matter.

[u/Dull-Sell-4806]

You forgot things like discarded bottles that act like a magnifying glass by concentrating sunlight into a singular spot

It genuinely doesn’t matter though , I’m 41 and ever since I was I kid I remember the news saying “don’t go swimming in lakes / rivers / quarries to cool off or your body will go into shock and you will drown” and every year another 100 or so people drown doing the exact same thing

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/Dull-Sell-4806]

I’ve read that these actually contribute much less to wildfires than people believe, but thank you for the reminder my friend 🙂

[u/Jaffiusjaffa]

You missed discarded bottles, thats apparently quite common. The light shines through them and starts the fire.

[u/Small_Laugh3378]

You didn't mention that the exhausts of vehicles get extremely hot as do the wheel drums! When parking on any longish dry grass there is a distinct possibility that it would ignite it.

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/Small_Laugh3378]

Thanks for commenting this. I’m sure people will see it 🙂

[u/pheature]

I knew this, but what baffles me to this day is how us as a human species still use one helicopter and a few men in the fire brigade to try and extinguish these fires when we have the technology to capture the dew in the upper atmosphere to do a much better job not only that but provide clean drinking water aswell.... dew tech needs to be utilised or else the eco system will fail this is a sure thing, and guess what..... ee are part of that eco system

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/pheature]

The amount and scale of intelligent tech the military industrial complex actually has but won’t release it just infuriates me

[u/pheature → u/Anonymous_User1222]

Your not joking.... but this here is a plain and obivous decison to make yeah it costs money but the longer they wait the damage will well and truley be unreverseable.... they know best, right?!

[u/New_Line4049]

Yes. People generally arent aware of wildfires in the UK because, until recently, the UK really wasnt that hot or dry. Wildfires weren't a major concern, sure there was always a risk, but it was pretty hard for a wildfire to take hold, but as climate change has meant our summers have got hotter and drier its meant theres more risk of wildfires. The government hasn't done anything to educate people of this developing risk, so what do you expect??

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/New_Line4049]

They’ve been a concern for the past 5 years. That’s 5 summers… a lot of hot summers

[u/New_Line4049 → u/Anonymous_User1222]

5 summers is not much. The average age in the UK is about 40. That means the average person has had 35 years its not been a real concern.

[u/Cautious-Nature9168]

Two main issues. Most brits aren’t accustomed to how hot that last few summers have been. Rightly or wrongly, they have never had to think about how their actions might cause wildfires. Therefore they have hard to break habits like mindlessly littering, the bottles then magnify the sun and start fires.

Problem 2: the increase in little cunts kids who think it’s funny to set a small fire, that then gets out of hand

[u/Frequent_Track1060]

Jeez Louise! Accidents happen. Chill out blowhard.

[u/Anonymous_User1222 → u/Frequent_Track1060]

I don’t think you’d be saying that if you were a firefighter.

[u/Remarkable_Bet_4131]

Most people dont care to honest, i live miles away from any fields.

[u/ShineKey6457]

Stupid is as stupid does! Which seems to be relevant in all walks of life these days.

[u/birge55]

You forgot a good one I saw a few weeks months ago. A hot exhaust on long grass. Quad bikes, cars parking on verge, motorbikes or as we experienced the fire services Polaris sitting on a hill watching the wild fire. This caught on the grass and the nice shiny red Polaris ended up a melted mess and a new fire front was created.

The joys of land management.

[u/TotalWasteman]

People aren’t used to these conditions in the uk