Lantern danger? (From York Press)

Lantern danger?

9:41am Wednesday 31st October 2012 in Letters By Reader's letter

LAST year, during the height of the fireworks season and again at New Year, I noticed a whole flotilla of Chinese lanterns floating serenely over York’s suburbs creating a lovely silent scene.

Your article “Appeal not use Chinese lanterns” (The Press, October 29) reports that the Country Land & Business Association wants to put a stop to the use of Chinese lanterns over the Bonfire Night and Hallowe’en period, citing the threat of fire to land, property, people and livestock. I wonder just how many cases of combustion are actually caused by these lanterns, as I haven’t seen many reported cases in The Press.

I do accept that the wires holding the candle in the lanterns, when falling to ground, can damage livestock which inadvertently get caught up in them or try to eat them. I can also see that the occasional lantern may ignite a haystack just after harvest, or possibly begin a forest fire in the midst of a drought but, come on, setting fire to things outdoors in damp, dark November is not really all that likely.

It would be interesting to see if any insurance company can come up with some meaningful statistics that show how harmful these lanterns can be and then compare this to the amount of damage created by fireworks.

Bob Redwood, Main Street, Askham Bryan, York.