And of course if the country weren’t populated by selfish idiots who are patently incapable of looking beyond their latest whim (and retailers putting grubby self interest first( it wouldn’t be necessary.
Well said!
Lighting fires outside in these conditions is a potentially life-threatening emergency (unfortunately not usually directly to the selfish idiots who persist in doing it).
"Potentially" being the key word here, in the same way speeding or crossing a level crossing when the gates are down are both potentially life threatening.
The chances are that when you were young, you may have heard of the cautionary tale of "The boy who cried wolf", using the emergency alert system for a public service announcement erodes trust in it.
There are some that seem incapable of understanding nuance and proportionality, instead preferring to smother themselves in sycophantic self-righteousness, attacking a straw man position of their own creation, as opposed to the actual points being made.
Lighting any fire at any time is a potential life-threatening emergency. Driving a motor vehicle at any time is a potential life-threatening emergency. Walking down a flight of stairs is a potential life-threatening emergency.
Tell that to the families in Stourbridge...
That perfectly highlights the failings of the emergency alert system. No alert was sent when it was actually needed, ie when the fire was approaching people's homes and there really was an imminent threat to life.
Agreed - but "please don't have a BBQ because the country is a tinder box and any mistake or negligence on your part could create a vast inferno and our fire crews MAY not be able to respond to the next call for help because they are so busy dealing with existing wildfires" IS, at least in my book. I suspect fire crews in many areas are stretched to breaking point at the moment and don't need more to do
Tbf this was dealt with by the local incident teams, who to evacuate and when rather than evacuate an entire town. The phone alert was not needed in this case and all life preserved.
So you're saying the Fire and Rescue Service were wrong to request the government send out the alert then?
No.
Well yes that's true. But to be honest I thought what is this, rolled my eyes and hit the ok button. I guess that shows how little I trust the government.
I did the same, for the same reason.
FWIW I think these are really useful and should be in place in the UK for missing persons etc. They are localised in the USA by county, I think. However almost nobody seems to have the alert siren turned on - I was on a bus when I got a silver alert and only one mine and other person's phone went off. If there was an option for these lower level alerts to come through silently but with mandatory text/vibration on screen I would support them more, but interrupting people's sleep or making them drop everything to run to their phone for an unprecedented "LIFE THREATENING EMERGENCY USE ONLY" will only undermine the system we have.
Okay, I will concede that the emergency alert system should be used both for immediate life threatening situations and to help the authorities locate prison phones. But only those two scenarios!The severe alert going off did have some unintended positive news:
Nationwide phone alert had unexpected side effect behind bars
Emergency wildfire alert triggers ringing in cells as prison guards seize smuggled phoneswww.devonlive.com
The most surprising thing is that their controband phones weren't isolated from every possible outside source of making them loud.Okay, I will concede that the emergency alert system should be used both for immediate life threatening situations and to help the authorities locate prison phones. But only those two scenarios!
