Ban On Chinese Lanterns

[emmie]

wonder if some agree, i do think they are dangerous, as proved by this fire.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2013/jul/01/smethwick-fire-chinese-lanterns-banned

[woofgang]

well yes, but they aren't going to get far doing anything about it.

[chrisgel]

Let's maybe keep a bit of proportion. This is in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan.
There are hundreds if not thousands of lanterns being released. Every one of them is larger and with a much bigger flame than the ones that are commercially available here. And they do this every year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2EQ0WeNmlU

[Old_Geezer]

Perhaps they blow somewhere they cause minimal destruction. It's still a foolish practice.

[chrisgel]

Well, I guess if enough people complain they will end up on the list of banned "things that might be a bit of fun for someone so let's stop it".
You know, that list that grows bigger every day. We seem to ask for a "nanny" state and then complain because we get one.

[viv38]

They should definitely be banned, along with the helium filled balloons that people send up too. These often land in farmers fields and are eaten by cows as they are eating the grass and cause allsorts of problems for them. I know someone whose tree was set on fire by a Chinese lantern and would have caused more serious damage if a neighbour hadn't spotted it in time !

[McMouse]

In my experience high powered firework rockets are far more of a threat. Apart from 5th November, many people in this neck of the woods celebrate birthdays, religious events etc with a firework display. It's not unusual to find the remains of a rocket head and stick embedded in my garden. Have no doubt that a direct hit on a person could be fatal. Imho all firework displays should be licensed and the organisers should carry at least £5 million Public Liability. Bah humbug.

[emmie]

tonyav, sorry i meant that i think it was a celebration in Poland.

[viv38]

I agree McMouse.

[boxtops]

I agree too. McMouse, they shouldn't be on sale in the supermarkets.

[emmie]

gromit, surely homes can be built after the plant has been in operation for years. So not sure how one gets around that. It is not their fault if somebody sends up a firework or chinese lantern and causes an inferno.

[emmie]

netting over a recycling centre won't help, sparks from the firework or lantern will just float through. unless its tight wire mesh. I don't much like them, nor fireworks, they set them off in our area and some are so bad, loud it's like bombs going off, scare the hell out of you.

[anotheoldgit]

Setting fire to an object then releasing it to drift freely no matter where, is just plain madness, look at all the criticisms (and rightly so) some smokers get when they discard their cigarette ends out of car windows?

[emmie]

sp, the chinese coped because most lived in rural locations over those thousands of years, and quite honestly they may not have had a lot to lose. Now that they live in bigger cities, which are much more urbanised, i wonder that the practice is still so wide spread.

[emmie]

i didn't say they should be banned, just that they are dangerous, and that i had never considered the implication of the ones that float out to sea, mistaken for distress flares.

[Gromit]

Why is lighting a rocket and setting it off any different?

We have been doing that for hundreds of years. We have any idea where the hot or burning remains land. Many fires have resulted and injuries.

[emmie]

most firework displays that i recall didn't involve mega rockets, nor anything that sounded like a ton of TNT going off, they were usually organised as some are still today, in parks and more open areas, away from buildings, these chinese lantern are a fairly new phenomenon in Britain, however as already pointed out, they can be seen as flares if floating out to sea, or set fire to almost anything, ban them, don't ban them i don't care, but the damage they have caused at Smethwick seems serious enough.

[anotheoldgit]

Gromit

/// We have been doing that for hundreds of years. We have any idea where the hot or burning remains land. Many fires have resulted and injuries. ///

You have a point, but surely a live flame is more likely to set off a fire that hot smouldering remains.

[FredPuli43]

The trajectory of a firework is predictable, and, when it lands, it is smouldering, at worst. Operators are careful not to release rockets when the wind is against them and the landing and the effect unpredictable. None of that applies to Chinese lanterns.

[emmie]

perhaps they could send a few scud missiles to to knock it out the sky, or maybe not...

[shaneystar2]

There have been several searches by the lifeboats off the coast here because they thought they were distress flares .
Each time the lifeboat goes out it costs an awful lot of money .
It's a couple of years old but this link shows the damage they can do .
http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/environment/norfolk_warnings_over_chinese_lanterns_1_793993