Appeal not to use Chinese lanterns

8:55am Monday 29th October 2012 in News

A COUNTRYSIDE organisation has urged people not to use Chinese lanterns over the Bonfire Night and Hallowe’en period.

The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) said the threat of fire to land, property, people, livestock and pets outweighed the appeal of the naked flame lanterns, which are constructed from paper, wire and bamboo.

Dorothy Fairburn, CLA North regional director, said: “Manufacturers and importers defend their products as an environmentally friendly way for people to enjoy themselves, but it is becoming increasingly clear they are nothing more than a potential lethal fire risk.”

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is also to investigate the level of risk Chinese Lanterns pose.

A spokesman said: “Given the concerns and complaints that are being made about the damage sky lanterns can do, we want to find out just what effect they are having on farming and the environment.”

Comments(23)

anistasia says...
9:01am Mon 29 Oct 12

they look nice but if they are a fire hazard i can see the point of asking people not to use them.you may think of me as a spoil sport but how would you react if your home or fields,shed caught fire you may think different then.

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roskoboskovic says...
9:05am Mon 29 Oct 12

if your field can catch fire in november it ll be a miracle.

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Woody G Mellor says...
9:32am Mon 29 Oct 12

It only takes one to drift into a barn full of Hay or straw. Or land on a thatched cottage roof.

I won't be buying any.

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nasrudin says...
9:34am Mon 29 Oct 12

Problems caused by the ones that contain wire I understand, and many are now wire free. Have there actually been any instances of the non-wire ones causing damage / fire? If so, in what way?

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dodgydavereturns says...
10:39am Mon 29 Oct 12

Scaremongering for Halloween again!

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Platform9 says...
10:52am Mon 29 Oct 12

So sparks from a rocket landing on a haystack is ok then?

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Pete the Brickie says...
10:54am Mon 29 Oct 12

nasrudin wrote:
Problems caused by the ones that contain wire I understand, and many are now wire free. Have there actually been any instances of the non-wire ones causing damage / fire? If so, in what way?
The wire ones cause an additional danger to livestock, the risk being them being eaten by the animal. Both types can set fire to buildings on landing, thankfully incidences of it happening are rare.

I'd add however that our farmers are having a tough enough time as it is due to the weather this summer, we should be doing everything we can to help them and if that includes not risking buring down a barn with enough dry hay in it to feed their livestock over an entire winter by buying a flying ornament then so be it.

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Pete the Brickie says...
10:59am Mon 29 Oct 12

Platform9 wrote:
So sparks from a rocket landing on a haystack is ok then?
No, rockets and other fireworks from organised displays have a limited range, safety features which ensure they are spent before landing and have to have a proper safe fall zone.

Householders should of course use common sense and not fire them anywhere near farm buildings or aninmals.

The lanterns can travel for miles at the mercy of the wind before landing still alight.

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pedalling paul says...
12:15pm Mon 29 Oct 12

Will they really set fire to anything that they land on.....?

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dsom73 says...
12:28pm Mon 29 Oct 12

Disagree entirely that they are a fire risk - what with physics and all that. If they're still lit, they continue to rise (taking into account air density, ambient air temperature, heat loss, they may appear to be stable but are still creating rising energy). If one were to blow into a barn or haystack, it would extinguish almost straight away as the canopy collapses.

However, they are a massive danger to wildlife and should be banned for that reason alone. Even wire free ones pose a danger - don't use them.

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nasrudin says...
12:29pm Mon 29 Oct 12

Pete the Brickie wrote:
nasrudin wrote:
Problems caused by the ones that contain wire I understand, and many are now wire free. Have there actually been any instances of the non-wire ones causing damage / fire? If so, in what way?
The wire ones cause an additional danger to livestock, the risk being them being eaten by the animal. Both types can set fire to buildings on landing, thankfully incidences of it happening are rare.

I'd add however that our farmers are having a tough enough time as it is due to the weather this summer, we should be doing everything we can to help them and if that includes not risking buring down a barn with enough dry hay in it to feed their livestock over an entire winter by buying a flying ornament then so be it.
Yeah, as I say, I get the problem with wire ones, it's well documented -- but has anything ever been set alight by a lantern landing on it?

If not, I can't see a problem with the bamboo ones (other than as litter they could be annoying).

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Platform9 says...
12:33pm Mon 29 Oct 12

Pete the Brickie wrote:
Platform9 wrote: So sparks from a rocket landing on a haystack is ok then?
No, rockets and other fireworks from organised displays have a limited range, safety features which ensure they are spent before landing and have to have a proper safe fall zone. Householders should of course use common sense and not fire them anywhere near farm buildings or aninmals. The lanterns can travel for miles at the mercy of the wind before landing still alight.
The rocket that rolled off my house roof and then landed on the plastic roof of my shed this weekend wasnt spent and the cannister was still glowing when I went outside to see what the noise was?

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Prob says...
12:39pm Mon 29 Oct 12

Pete the Brickie wrote:
Platform9 wrote: So sparks from a rocket landing on a haystack is ok then?
No, rockets and other fireworks from organised displays have a limited range, safety features which ensure they are spent before landing and have to have a proper safe fall zone. Householders should of course use common sense and not fire them anywhere near farm buildings or aninmals. The lanterns can travel for miles at the mercy of the wind before landing still alight.
Why do you assume all fireworks are done by organised displays?

Plenty of people fire up rockets from back gardens in built up areas.

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Prob says...
12:40pm Mon 29 Oct 12

Also, if these lanterns are so dangerous, how do chinese farms survive?

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Dave Taylor says...
1:08pm Mon 29 Oct 12

The wire can injure farm animals (as can latex balloons) but I think the danger of fire is being massively overstated. Certainly no more than fireworks as one person mentioned. Here's an interesting statistic from the days before Health & Safety: www.guinnessworldrec
ords.com/world-recor
ds/11000/worst-firew
ork-disaster-death-t
oll

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pedalling paul says...
1:30pm Mon 29 Oct 12

pedalling paul wrote:
Will they really set fire to anything that they land on.....?
Still waiting for a bite...........

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Mr Udigawa says...
2:24pm Mon 29 Oct 12

pedalling paul wrote:
pedalling paul wrote: Will they really set fire to anything that they land on.....?
Still waiting for a bite...........
Oh go on then, if we attached enough lanterns/rockets to your Bike I wonder how far you would fly, and woudl you pose a danger to Livestock once you landed? The odd sheep perhaps?

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Pete the Brickie says...
3:25pm Mon 29 Oct 12

nasrudin wrote:
Pete the Brickie wrote:
nasrudin wrote:
Problems caused by the ones that contain wire I understand, and many are now wire free. Have there actually been any instances of the non-wire ones causing damage / fire? If so, in what way?
The wire ones cause an additional danger to livestock, the risk being them being eaten by the animal. Both types can set fire to buildings on landing, thankfully incidences of it happening are rare.

I'd add however that our farmers are having a tough enough time as it is due to the weather this summer, we should be doing everything we can to help them and if that includes not risking buring down a barn with enough dry hay in it to feed their livestock over an entire winter by buying a flying ornament then so be it.
Yeah, as I say, I get the problem with wire ones, it's well documented -- but has anything ever been set alight by a lantern landing on it?

If not, I can't see a problem with the bamboo ones (other than as litter they could be annoying).
A couple of recorded house fires in the Uk, one was in Trowbridge last year where children had to be evacuated from a timber framed house when a lantern set fire to the roof.

Lanterns are banned in Spain due to numerous crop fires and animal deaths, they have also caused forest fires in Vietnam and were blamed for a house fire in Germany where a young boy died.

The problem seems to come from cheaper versions where the canopy is not fireproof, these can set alight and descend whilst still lit.

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bob the builder says...
6:40pm Mon 29 Oct 12

nasrudin wrote:
Problems caused by the ones that contain wire I understand, and many are now wire free. Have there actually been any instances of the non-wire ones causing damage / fire? If so, in what way?
Cattle eat them and the wire causes damage.

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mortandindi says...
7:24am Tue 30 Oct 12

attaching lanterns to pedalling Paul will have no effect to his bike or him as he's far too wet !!

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Homer-the-motorhomer says...
12:25pm Tue 30 Oct 12

Mr Udigawa wrote:
pedalling paul wrote:
pedalling paul wrote: Will they really set fire to anything that they land on.....?
Still waiting for a bite...........
Oh go on then, if we attached enough lanterns/rockets to your Bike I wonder how far you would fly, and woudl you pose a danger to Livestock once you landed? The odd sheep perhaps?
Should PP be renamed SS? - tell us more

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BKKYorkshireboy says...
1:11pm Tue 30 Oct 12

After floating for many miles the burnt-out remains can hurt livestock and litter fields. Farmers have reported sheep, cattle and horses being injured, and in some cases dying, from eating the burnt-out metal wire frames. They also pose a safety risk to aircraft if the lanterns get sucked into aircraft's' engines.

They should be banned.. full stop!

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YSTClinguist says...
1:25pm Tue 30 Oct 12

It's wonderful how, after man created fire, learning to use it for cooking and as a tool, after the great Fire of London and and many individual instances over the centuries that are well documented, that we can now set fire to something the £ shop sells and let it fly off to who knows where.

In a way, it's like fireworks and chavs, only you don't get instant satisfaction as you're unlikely to see what it hits, sets fire to or what animal it scars/kills later on.

@Prob, you're using as evidence the example that because you haven't heard of something happening behind the Red Curtain then they are safe to use here? Did China suddenly turn into a democracy with freedoms for their Press all of a sudden and I didn't hear about it?

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