Tesco stores in UK to stop selling fire balloons

Fire balloon
A fire balloon or sky lantern as seen in a testosterone commercial

Bowing to public pressure, a chain of stores has decided to stop selling fire balloons or sky lanterns. Tesco, a British multinational grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, England, made the decision after months of lobbying by Farmers Guardian and supporters of the Say No to Sky Lanterns campaign.

Below is an excerpt from Farmers Guardian:

…It comes as campaigners raised concerns about the risk to livestock and the threat of fire, ahead of Chinese New Year tomorrow (Friday) – an event traditionally celebrated by releasing fire lanterns into the sky.

Back in November the retailer told FG it would review its sky lantern sales following a raft of pressure from MPs, local authorities, farming unions and concerned members of the public.

Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis joined the drive after becoming fed up with the dangerous paper and wire objects littering land where his cattle graze.

Tesco agriculture director Tom Hind said: “We have listened to the feedback from customers and other groups including the farming community, and we think the right thing to do is to stop selling sky lanterns. We will not be sending any more stock to stores and any existing stock should be gone within a matter of weeks.”

These incendiary devices use burning material such as rubbing alcohol or a candle to heat the air in a bag made of tissue paper or very thin plastic. The heat makes the device lighter than air causing it to rise into the sky, staying aloft for 10 minutes to 2 hours. They can be very pretty to watch especially when they are released dozens or hundreds at a time such as at a wedding or some other celebration. One of the problems is that they sometimes start wildfires or structure fires.

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Author: Bill Gabbert

After working full time in wildland fire for 33 years, he continues to learn, and strives to be a Student of Fire.

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