CHINESE LANTERNS - they are a danger

[tintinthegingertomcat]

I have been saying for years that although these Chinese lanterns look beautiful in the night sky.....they were an accident waiting to happen. Now in the West Midlands (Smethwick) a recycling plant has gone up in flames (made national news yesterday morning) with approx. six million pounds worth of damage....the cause.....Chinese lantern.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DO NOT BUY AND RELEASE THESE LANTERNS.....NEXT TIME IT COULD BE A HOUSE WITH PEOPLE ASLEEP IN OR A BARN WITH ANIMALS IN....OR IN THE CASE OF THIS FACTORY MILLIONS OF POUNDS WORTH OF DAMAGE PUTTING PEOPLES LIVES AND JOBS AT RISK.

Could you all try and get others you know to stop buying and releasing these lanterns.

Many thanks

[leoleoleo123]

It was, indeed, an unfortunate thing to happen... but when you think of all the millions of Chinese lanterns released here and in other countries every year... well , then it becomes just like any other everyday happening, that alas, ended in a fire...

you can say the same about lots of things...

[tintinthegingertomcat]

But this was a totally avoidable accident.....and now many people have lost their jobs....next time it could be a life....

[leoleoleo123]

yes...

but you could say.. never go rock climbing, incase you fall..

never cook food, incase you set the house alight..

etc etc

accidents happen I am afraid.

all could be avoided if they were never allowed to happen.. its just not the way of the world.

[alisonsvintagechicboutique]

The wire frames when they fall to earth injure a lot of livestock every year and some animals are killed, they either ingest parts of the lanterns or get their feet caught up in the wire 😞

Horrible things hope they are banned.  

[ilove2patch]

They are making them with no wire in now but they are still highly flammable & carry their own fuel source. I don't really see how they can be compared with rock climbing & cooking your dinner.:-(

[leoleoleo123]

you would think, wouldn't you, that the frames could be made with something more combustable.... so that they went 'poof!' after a short time...

[leoleoleo123]

perhaps I didn't explain myself more clearly.....

I still see it as an accident... tragic yes, avoidable, yes.. but then.. so are many other accidents..

[lhasa.two]

Michael Eavis who organises Glastonbury, this year asked festival goers not to bring along chinese lanterns as the metal/plastic bits end up in his fields and have, in some cases, been the cause of death to his cows.

Of course these things are accidents but the problem is once released they are out of peoples hands to control them and that's the problem! 

[ilove2patch]

I want fireworks banned from public sale but these things are far more of a fire hazard than fireworks. They need some clever bod to make them safe.

[seasideperson]

I don't like them. We are surrounded by thatched houses, if they go up we might! Our house is a 1967 replacement for a thatched cottage that burnt down due to a firework.

[stampingpat]

I don't like them either as they cause harm to birds and animals. And personally it is a form of littering!! This is ontop of the fire hazard.

[bankhaunter]

yes...

but you could say.. never go rock climbing, incase you fall..

never cook food, incase you set the house alight..

etc etc

accidents happen I am afraid.

all could be avoided if they were never allowed to happen.. its just not the way of the world.

But when you go rock climbing you don't expose others who might be a long way away, to any risk, neither will you set houses in the next street on fire when you cook.

It's one thing to engage in an activity which may be risky to yourself but quite another when it's other peoples lives or property.

I don't think the owners of this house accepted it as the way of the world.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2013116/Chinese-lantern-sets-house-landing-roof-family-sleeps.html

[captainbovine]

they are a danger to livestock, I hate the things, and fireworks, they should be banned from public sale.

[leoleoleo123]

well, as I said before.. perhaps I didn't use the right examples...

[*elphaba*]

I have never understood their popularity.

How can anyone think releasing a naked flame with its own fuel source.....wrapped in paper.... into the air with no way of controlling where it goes would ever be a good idea? 

As well as animal deaths they cause hundreds of burn injuries a year, mostly childrens faces as they are looking up at the lantern so if an air current tips molten wax out they are less able to react as adults are and get out of the way.

I'm only suprised there are not more fires reported

[bankhaunter]

The problem with the lanterns is that there is no control, they can travel a long way and you can bet that should one cause damage it is unlikely anyone will admit to responsibility.

Those launching them will often have absolutely no idea where they finally land or if there was any possibilty of damage caused, it will be a case of out of sight, out of mind.

There is also the litter aspect, it seems strange to me that dropping litter in the street or leaving it behind after a picnic, is rightly frowned upon but it seems okay to float it into the air for it to land a couple of miles away.

[tintinthegingertomcat]

Obviously, like the sale of fireworks, as long as people will buy them....they will be sold.

If each and everyone of us can spread the word about the dangers then perhaps accidental fires etc will be avoided.

Glad to see that you are all with me on this topic.

I hadn't thought about the litter aspect....but I should have cause the streets are always littered with rocket stems after November 5th.

Because my local news is Central....then there have been quite a few people speaking about against Chinese lanterns.

Thanks to you all for your thoughts....it is muchly appreciated

[*chez*]

I went to a wedding in London in the middle of a housing estate... Laterns were lit in memory of those who couldn't attend and very nearly set alight washing on a balcony of a nearby block of flats..  I agree they are dangerous.

[1311rose]

Got to agree.  They are dangerous.  Once lit and released you have no control over where they end up.  That fire in the West Midlands could easily have cost lives to anyone working near the place or to firemen.

The lanterns are made of materials which if they land in a field can cause serious injury or death to animals who may accidentally eat them.  Even bamboo bits can be dangerous to animals.

The sooner they are regulated the better.