BBQ Bans Are a Woeful Response to Wildfires

(Bloomberg Opinion) -- In response to this summer’s devastating wildfires, France has arrested more than 300 people in connection with suspected arson. French President Emmanuel Macron has pledged “zero tolerance” for anyone purposefully starting fires. Greece had a similar response after a series of shocking blazes in 2023, increasing the severity of penalties for intentional forest arson. Meanwhile, with half of England now officially in drought, there have been calls to ban the sale of temporary barbecues in UK supermarkets.

These methods, which nudge people toward more sensible behaviors, feel like easy wins: Crack down on careless or malicious acts, and stop wildfires. But Europe’s experience has already shown that there are limits to what can be achieved by controlling ignitions.

A study published in Nature at the end of July found that the average annual number of fires in France, Spain, Portugal, Greece and Italy between 2016 and 2025 was at least 40% lower than the 1981-2010 average. That’s thanks to improved fire-management and containment efforts, such as better-trained brigades and rapid initial-attack strategies, as well as public-awareness campaigns and stricter regulations that have reduced human-triggered combustion.

However, the fires that do escape suppression are now larger and more intense. A small number of blazes is responsible for most of the total burnt area, and that concentration is increasing over time.

There are three elements that create a wildfire. One, of course, is the spark. About 95% of blazes are caused by human activity — anything from the negligent discarding of a smoldering cigarette butt, a spark from a BBQ or a deliberate fire.

In addition to the ignition, you need fire-friendly weather. Human-induced climate change is giving us more days with the perfect conditions for an inferno — high temperatures, low humidity, strong winds and lack of rainfall. A World Weather Attribution study found that fossil-fuel emissions made the conditions that have fueled the July wildfires at least twice as likely in France and 20 times more likely in Spain.

Finally, there needs to be something to burn. A mixture of climatic and land-management changes is providing ample fuel. Thomas Smith, associate professor in environmental geography at the London School of Economics, explained to me that land abandonment in parts of Europe means that areas that were once controlled by grazing are now full of flammable grasses and shrubs. That’s intensified by whiplashes between very wet and dry weather, which creates verdant landscapes that become the perfect kindling.

Policies intended to limit ignitions are still helpful, but they need to be accompanied by measures to try and control fuel sources, too. So if we’re banning temporary BBQs, we should also educate people on controlling fuel in their own backyards. The Firewise program, which was started by the National Fire Protection Association in the US and has recently expanded to the UK, suggests simple measures such as clearing guttering of dead leaves, repairing shingles or roof tiles, and pruning trees and the areas around them. There’s also advice on which garden plants are more fire resistant than others – sage and lavender are low risk, while plants such as verbena, camelia and leylandii should be kept moist, pruned and not planted directly next to homes or sheds. 

In France, a law requires residents who live near forest or scrubland to clear vegetation and trim low-hanging tree branches within 50 meters (164 feet) of their homes, but this has rarely been enforced. Nationally, more than 60% of French properties don’t comply with the regulations.

The bigger picture also matters. In France, the Gironde wildfire near Bordeaux burned through a tightly packed, intensively managed monoculture plantation of maritime pine. Single-species forests, particularly of coniferous species, are more flammable and burn with more intensity than broad-leaved deciduous trees such as oak, which retain more moisture. 

In addition to creating more firebreaks — gaps in vegetation to prevent flames from spreading — improving biodiversity in these man-made landscapes can help slow fires. Other nature-based solutions, such as reintroducing grazing animals like bison and restoring wetlands, can also create natural firebreaks. It’s noteworthy that the area struck by the Gironde wildfire was a vast marshland until Napoleon III ordered it to be drained and planted with pine in 1857.

Areas of Europe have been actively creating firebreaks for decades, but the practices may need expanding and updating in the face of extreme fire-weather conditions. As the Nature study’s authors write: “Intensive suppression has also promoted fuel accumulation in many landscapes.” In these areas, some low-intensity fires may actually serve as a megafire prevention strategy.

If countries really want to crack down on wildfires, they need to look at the entire causal chain: Reduce human ignitions, tackle the buildup of combustible fuel in the landscape — and stop contributing to climate change.

More from Bloomberg Opinion:

This column reflects the personal views of the author and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Lara Williams is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering climate change.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com/opinion

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.