Anyone who has much experience of UK ops will surely know that it was a case of "horses for courses". Factors to consider:
a) The flares came down on a parachute and were supposed to burn out before touching the ground.
b) The ground in UK isn't often dry enough for a fire to be started by a flare anyway. For example, due to our glorious summer weather, from my garden I can see a new lake about 100 yards across and 3 feet deep that "arrived" last monday during a storm and hasn't gone away yet. I haven't been able to cut my lawns for 3 weeks because it's too wet.
Having said that, there is a true story of a certain RAF QHI that managed to burn down a big haystack during his night demo of an auto to RAF Ternhill a few years ago.
A single engined helicopter with a night sun that stays lit following an engine failure? Surprised it can fly carrying a battery that big!
