Fire service has attended seven bin fires this month

Firefighters have also attended four tree and undergrowth fires, which are usually more common at this time of year due to the hot, dry weather.

‘We expect an increase at this time of year, but when fires are due to discarded materials, such as disposable barbecues, it’s massively disruptive to us,’ said fire safety officer Philip Kilgour.

‘We could be focusing on training or attending other incidents, so it’s a massive inconvenience, especially when it is so avoidable with just a little bit of thought.’

A public bin at Grandes Rocques was set alight on Sunday evening by a disposable barbecue.

The bin was melted, burning other rubbish inside and also causing damaged to the recycling bin situated next to it.

This incident finally triggered the firet service to plead for more common sense from people during barbecue season. The advice is to ensure that disposable is completely cold before putting it in the bin, either from letting it cool down on its own or pouring water over the top.

‘With tree and undergrowth fires, we can’t necessarily establish the probable cause of those. It could be discarded materials, cigarettes or even bottles of bits of glass that catch the light,’ said Mr Kilgour.

‘But we’re asking for people to be more careful with disposable barbecues because there has been such an increase.’

For a bin fire, the fire service has to dispatch a structural frontline fire appliance, which is designed to go to building fires.

‘We’re mobilising them to something that could really easily have been avoided,’ said Mr Kilgour.

In Guernsey, barbecues are allowed on north and west coast beaches between 5pm and midnight.

They should be lit at least 4m away from any vegetation and away from shingle.

A container to collect seawater should be on hand to cool the barbecue, and cold remnants should be taken home or put in a bin.